Who Are the People In Your Neighborhood?

It was a gorgeous day yesterday so rather than spend it in the house, I decided that the Nikon and I were in need of a bit of fresh air and sunshine so we set out to take a walk around part of our neighborhood.  I had wanted to get some pictures of the local magnolia tree while it was still in bloom and before all of its pretty petals were lying all over the sidewalk.  

There we go - a semi-nice shot of the neighbor's tree!  

From there I decided to head my feet in the direction of Yantic Cemetery which is just a short stroll in the opposite direction of the Dogwood and see how things were looking over there.  As many times as I've walked around the cemetery, I still always find gravestones that I'd not noticed before and wonder about the lives of the people who are buried beneath them.  As close as they are to my house, I've come to think of them as my very quiet neighbors.

This elaborately carved stone belongs to Austin Bliss and his wife Elizabeth Beckwith who was almost 4-1/2 years Austin's senior; obviously Austin liked older women!  They both died on January 13th, 1892 though I have no idea how.  Did they die in an accident or a fire or perhaps from some illness?  I guess the one good thing about dying on the same day is that neither had to mourn the loss of the other. 

This stone marks the grave of Caleb B. Rogers and his three wives - Harriet S. who died in 1847, Iduella T. who passed in 1849, and Eleanora H. who actually outlived Caleb by four years and died in 1875.  I wonder how Eleanora felt about sharing the stone with the two wives that had died before her and being at the bottom of the list?  Considering she outlived all of them, I'm thinking she didn't feel too badly about it! 

Looking more like a church steeple than a gravestone, this is the Morgan Family plot.  As cool of a grave markers as it is, it's not the only steeplesque onee though as there's another one right near it. 

The other steeple-like stone belongs to the Williams Family but it doesn't say much more than that.  Apparently they are neighbors who like to keep to themselves! 

The Emmons Family obviously believed in the old adage "Good fences make good neighbors" even though I'm afraid their iron fence is starting to fall apart after all these years! 

Meet the Carter Family - Sarah Elizabeth Davis who was the wife of Joseph Carter and her children, Sarah Elizabeth Carter who passed in 1901, Joseph Witter Carter who died in 1921, Josie Davis Carter who met her demise in 1935, and Hattie Louisa Carter who lived until 1944.  I'm not exactly sure where Joseph Carter himself is buried though it seems odd that he's not with the rest of the family.  One of the things I like about these stones, other than that there is an identical one for each member of the family, is that they all say "At Rest" at the very bottom of the inscription.  I think it's a lovely sentiment.

Father, mother, and daughter share the Sheffield Family stone and what caught my eye here is mom's name - Adeliza Jayne.  I think that's quite the lovely name even if it is a bit old-fashioned! 

Not too far from the Sheffields are the Benjamins - Sidney Benjamin and I'm going to guess his wife Elizabeth who remarried after Benjamin's death as her name is listed as Elizabeth B. Benjamin Colyer.  Benjamin was a member of the Connecticut Volunteers serving in Company C, Regiment 21 during the Civil War.  Based on his date of death - May 7th, 1863 - I'm going to guess that he died during the war though I've obviously got no idea as to where and how. 

Another family with ties to the Civil War are the McDavid Brothers whose stone is pictured above.  James S. McDavid died on August 23rd, 1864 at the age of 17 years and 9 months while his brother George H. died on March 27th, 1871 when he was only 22 years and 5 months.  As James was the older brother by 2 years, I'm going to guess that the flag at the grave is for him and tha he died as a result of the war at a very young age.

Corporal George W. Swain was a member of the Second Connecticut Infantry, Company B, and it looks like he's another neighbor who fought in the Civil War and never made it home alive again.  Again, I wish there were more information on his stone but it's standard military issue and tells no tales I'm afraid. 

Finally, this last stone belongs to the Jennings Family and upon closer inspection, it seems to tell a pretty sad story.

On one side of the stone is the inscription for William Jennings who was a member of the Connecticut Volunteers, Company K, 12th Regiment. He was taken prisoner at the Battle of Cedar Creek in Virginia on October 19th, 1864 and on November 9th of that same year, he died as a Prisoner of War at Salesbury Prison in North Carolina.  He was 39 years old.

Depending on when William marched off to battle he either left no wife waiting at home and worrying about him or she passed on shortly after he left as his bride, Annie Coleman, died herself on December 16th, 1862 at the age of 33.

And just to make this marker even sadder, on the opposite side of his father's is the inscription for John Arhur Jennings who died on July 15th, 1857 at the age of 2 years and 28 days. They say that there is no greater loss than that of a child but when William Jennings answered the call to duty and fought with the Connecticut Volunteers, he was a man who had already lost his son and his wife both.  I wonder if there was anyone to write him letters from home telling him that they missed him and wished him a safe return or if he was a man alone in the world?  Did he join the war because he was a man with a broken heart or did he learn of Annie's passing in some distant camp far from his beloved?  No doubt as he lay dying at the Confederate Prison in North Carolina, his thoughts were that he would be joining Annie and John Arthur soon and I'm sure that brought him a certain measure of comfort and peace. Or at least that's the story that I'm telling myself as to believe anything else would just really be too sad.

So those are just a few of my quiet neighbors who reside - nay repose - down the road from me.  As you can tell, I have a soft spot in my heart for those who served and fought during America's Civil War and I only wish that I knew more of their stories as even though what simply remains now are inscribed pieces of stone, at one time those whose names are etched upon them were living and breathing people that had families and friends and neighbors of their own.

"We come, not to mourn our dead soldiers, but to praise them." - Francis A. Walker

For me, Memorial Day is not complete without a visit to at least one or two cemeteries to pay my respects to the veterans interred there for whom this holiday has been dedicated. Considering that they chose to serve in our nation's military to make our country the free land that it is today, it seems like the least I can do is visit their graves and say "thank you".  After all, isn't that what Memorial Day is all about?

As most of you know, I live within very close walking distance to what I call my favorite cemetery in Norwich - the Yantic Cemetery on Lafayette Street - so it was to there that I headed on Saturday afternoon being that I am working both Sunday and Monday of the holiday weekend and didn't want to pass by the chance to go and then not get there at all.  When I got there I was a little dismayed to find that the City of Norwich had apparently decided that sprucing up the cemetery for the holiday weekend wasn't high on their list of things to do.

What was high, though, was the grass!  

Seriously wicked high! I would think that the city would be embarrassed to have visitors coming to one of its more prominent cemeteries on Memorial Day Weekend with it looking as it does but maybe they figured that no one would notice.  Yea ... right ... wrong!

Regardless of the fact that I felt like I was wading through a sea of grass to get there, I made my way to the back of the cemetery and the grave of Lieutenant Marvin Wait whose family must have had money as he has a rather elaborate stone.  Definitely not your standard military issue.  On each side of the stone are listed the major battles that Lieutenant Wait fought in before he met his death far from his home in Norwich at the very young age of 19.

Lieutenant Wait died in the horrific battle of Antietam which took place in Sharpsburg, Maryland on September 17th, 1862. It was was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil and was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history with about 23,000 casualties - one of which was Lieutenant Wait.

On one side of his stone, the inscription reads:

"In Memory of Lieutenant Marvin Wait Co. A 8th Regt Conn. Vol.

Born at Norwich Jan 21, 1843

Killed while gallantly leading his men in the bloody conflict at

Antietam, Maryland

on Sept 17, 1862"

Under the word Antietam at the base of the stone there are the words:
 "He died with his young fame about him for a shroud."

Thank you for your service, Lieutenant Wait.

Across the cemetery can be found the stone of Captain John McGall who died at the slightly older but still young age of 28 during the Bermuda Hundred Campaign in Chesterfield County, Virginia on May 16th, 1864.  A member of the 8th Regiment just like Lieutenant Wait, I've got to wonder whether they knew each other in spite of being in different Companies within the Regiment. 

The inscription on the back of Captain McGall's stone reads: 

"Among the many battles in which the deceased participated were those of Roanoke Island, Newbern, Fort Macon, South Mountain, Antietam, and Drury's Bluff. At the last named place on the 16th of May 1864 he sacrificed his life upon the altar of his country."

Thank you for your service, Captain McGall.

Nearby the grave of young Captain McGall is the Andersonville Memorial Gun with its concentric circles of soldiers' graves surrounding a 30-pounder Parrot rifle mounted on an iron cage.

This spot in the Yantic Cemetery is dedicated to Norwich's native sons who died at the Andersonville Prison Camp in Georgia.  Thirty men from Norwich were Prisoners of War at Andersonville and of those thirty, fifteen died from starvation, exposure, disease, or execution. In early 1866 Norwich became the first Northern city to retrieve the bodies of its soldiers who had perished there when they brought back the remains of nine of the fifteen soldiers who could be identified. A public service for their re-interment was held on February 1st, 1866.

I don't have pictures of the graves of all the men whose bodies were retrieved from Andersonville but I do have a few: 

In addition to the nine soldiers from Andersonville, there are 62 other members of the military who served in other wars and campaigns buried at the veterans plot with the last burial occurring as late as 1925.

Thank you for your service, gentlemen.

I was glad to see that the City of Norwich had at least taken the time to make sure that the grass around the Andersonville Memorial Gun was cut and that new flags had been placed at all of the graves.  

As I looked at all of the weathered white stones with their new flags circling the Andersonville Gun and full-size American flag, I thought that it was nice that all of these brave men were buried together so that they'd continue to have the camaraderie that only those who have served in the military know.  As they stood united in life, they now rest united in death. It just seems fitting.

As we continue through this Memorial Day Weekend, I'd like to ask once again that you remember those men and women who have fought and died to keep our nation free.  Even if you don't get a chance to visit a local cemetery, send your thanks heavenward - I'm sure they'll be heard.

Sunday Sentiment

"It is the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more."
~ Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Just to Keep You Up-to-Date on the Cemetery Theft Case ...

This is the latest report that was in the Norwich Bulletin regarding Sean McNee, the lowlife scum who stole the statue from the grave of Sarah Larned in the Yantic Cemetery:

$150,000 bond set in Yantic cemetery statue case
 By GREG SMITH
Norwich Bulletin
Posted Mar 10, 2010 @ 12:24 AM
Norwich, Conn. —

Sean McNee was ordered held Tuesday on a $150,000 bond on charges he stole, cut up and sold pieces of a 450-pound bronze statue marking a historic plot in Yantic Cemetery.

Norwich Judge Robert E. Young said the bond was justified considering the serious nature of the allegations and McNee’s “lifetime of crime,” that includes an extensive criminal history in Connecticut and beyond.

Bail Commissioner Lois Dupointe said McNee, 43, of Willimantic, has 17 prior criminal convictions in Connecticut that include 14 prior larceny convictions. He also has an outstanding larceny warrant in Florida.

McNee stood quietly beside his court-appointed attorney.

The statue of a kneeling woman marked the 120-year-old burial plot of Sarah Larned Osgood and part of a larger Osgood memorial at the cemetery on Lafayette Street. It was reported missing Feb. 19.

Pieces of the statue turned up last month at Willimantic Wastepaper scrap yard in Willimantic, where suspicious workers put the pieces aside in case they turned up as stolen. McNee cashed in the pieces of the estimated $35,000 statue for about $200, the owner said. The head is still missing.

After being picked out of a lineup as the man who sold the statue’s pieces, McNee told Norwich investigators he had never been to the Yantic Cemetery. He said he found the pieces of the statue under the bridge at Norwich Harbor — close to where he was injecting heroin, according to a police arrest warrant affidavit.

Police were skeptical of the story considering the weight of the statue and the fact the area is surrounded by a retaining wall and 12-foot high fence.

Police said McNee previously had worked for R.H. Snow Memorial Co. in Norwich, where owner John Halen said McNee has been in the Yantic Cemetery “countless times” helping him install gravestones.

“McNee has the knowledge to remove the statue with minimal effort and damage,” Halen told police.

As part of their investigation, police said they seized a grinder and spare cutting wheel from a home in Lebanon. Workers at Willimantic Wastepaper said McNee was with two other people, a man and woman, when he cashed in the bronze. Police said more arrests are expected.

Historians are looking into the possibility the statue could be repaired.

Tom Chase, an art conservator who specializes in bronze and who owns Chase Art Services in Woodstock, said if all the pieces are found, it would be possible to repair with some welding.

“If there are copies, they may be able to recast the head. There are ways to go,” Chase said.
McNee’s case was continued to March 29 and he remains held under a medical watch. He is charged with first-degree larceny, first-degree criminal mischief and desecration of a grave site.

It's no surprise to me that McNee is a lying dirtbag but it sounds like the police have a pretty strong case against him and I don't think he's going to be able to worm his way out of this one.  In an earlier story, the Bulletin reported that,

"Chunks of the 450-pound crouching woman, with an estimated value of $35,000, showed up at Willimantic Waste Paper sometime last month, where owner Tom Devivo said his brother was immediately suspicious.

“They said it was pieces from a Statue of Liberty (replica) that tipped over,” Devivo said. “It’s not something we typically get here. It’s really a shame. We feel bad for the family.”

I am very thankful that the owners of the scrap yard put the pieces of the statue aside feeling that something was definitely not right and that they were able to help the police in making an arrest in this case which has bothered me to no end.

It seems to me that based on his past criminal history and the heinous nature of this crime, that the court should throw whatever the maximum penalty is at this guy when he next appears in court on the 29th.  Not having to be at work until 3:00 that day, I'm thinking I just may be there to see what the judge has to say next while keeping my fingers crossed that something is finally done about a guy who has committed way too many crimes already.

While I was out taking other pictures today, I stopped by the Yantic Cemetery and visited Sarah's grave where it was even more dismaying to see in person the spot where her statute used to kneel over her grave.  The ground around the grave was pretty beat up so obviously it was no easy to feat to remove the 450-pound bronze lady from her pedestal.  It made me wish that Norwich PD had some of the technology of CSI: Miami as Horatio would have solved this crime already based on the evidence at the scene of the crime but I'm hoping that even without that, there's enough evidence to toss this guy in the can for a good long time.  A good long time!

Will There Be Justice For Sarah?

See that guy over there to the left?  That's Sean P. McNee, 43, of 182 South Park Street in Willimantic.  Sean is the upstanding citizen who thought it was a good idea to steal what was once a beautiful bronze statute that someone had lovingly put on the grave of Sarah Larned Osgood over 100 years ago and try to sell it to a scrap yard.  In the process Sean, great guy that is, managed to break apart the 450-pound figure of a kneeling woman in flowing robes and completely and totally ruin what was not only a beautiful piece of art but the best part of the Yantic Cemetery here in Norwich.

Sean - in my own humble opinion - is a dirtbag.  A dirtbag of the highest caliber.  Or is that the lowest caliber?  Sean should go to jail and stay there for a good chunk of time for what he did but unfortunately, what with the justice system being what it is these days, I rather doubt that's going to happen.  Perhaps instead we could make him kneel at the grave of Sarah Osgood every single day for a good long time?  I'd be happy to take a shift watching over him.

The details of the crime so far are still sketchy but kudos to the people at the unidentified scrap yard who reported to the Norwich Police that they had part of the statute which our boy Sean there had brought in to sell once he had cut it apart.  An investigation led to an arrest warrant which in turn brought in the "alleged" thief on charges of first-degree larceny, first-degree criminal mischief and desecration of a grave site.  A nice hefty bond of $150,000 was ordered and the "alleged" thief is due in Norwich Superior Court today where I'm hoping the judge raises the bond and throws him into a nice cold cell until his next court date rolls around.  

According to the report in the Norwich Bulletin, the head is still missing from the statute and other arrests are pending so I can only hope that perhaps during the continued course of the investigation that missing piece will turn up and maybe, just maybe, they'll be able to piece Sarah's statute back together again.  I don't know if it's possible but I sure hope so.

The article in the Bulletin didn't allow for reader's comments but a similar story in the New London Day does and it's rather obvious that other people in the area feel the same way that I do about this horrible crime and would like to see justice served.  First, though, the Norwich Police need to round up Sean's cohort(s) as I rather doubt he was able to remove a 450-pound statute by himself and then - however many of them there are - they need to be dealt with through the criminal justice system also. 

I have to tell you, looking at the desecrated pieces of this once-beautiful monument makes me sick to my stomach and I have to wonder again how people can do such things without having some twinge of conscience or sense of remorse or inkling that what they're doing is about as wrong as it gets?  How do people get to be so cold and uncaring?  I know the economy is bad and that times are tough but times were tough before; when this country went through the Great Depression this same statute knelt at Sarah's grave but no one pried her up, busted her apart, and tried to sell her for scrap then. 

Sean McNee, I hope that you are prosecuted to the highest extent of the law and if by any chance I find out when your next court date is and I don't have to work, I'd be happy to be there to see you - hopefully - get the justice that you so richly deserve.  That's a blog post I would be more than happy to write!

An updated article in the Norwich Bulletin appears here if you'd like to read further. 

*Photo credits to the Norwich Bulletin and the Norwich Police

A Local Theft That Breaks My Heart

Some things in life I just find totally appalling as there are some things in life that I'd like to think are sacred and would be treated as such however, I guess I am forgetting that there are some people out there who have absolutely no respect whatsoever. A reminder of that fact was brought home to me the other day when I read the following story in the Norwich Bulletin:

Century Old Statute Missing from Yantic Cemetery

By GREG SMITH
Norwich Bulletin
Posted Feb 23, 2010 @ 12:27 PM
Last update Feb 23, 2010 @ 04:55 PM
Norwich, Conn. —

A century-old historic bronze statue has disappeared from the Yantic Cemetery on Lafayette Street in Norwich.

Norwich police are investigating the likely theft of the life-sized statue that marked the grave of Sarah Osgood and was part of the Osgood family memorial - one often most photographed monuments in Norwich, said historian David Oat.

“This is quite a loss for us in the city of Norwich and anyone who values Norwich history,” Oat said. “I can’t tell you, it makes me sad to find out this had been taken - and from a cemetery.”

The value of the statute, a woman wearing a veil crouched over a gravestone, is unknown. Oat said the missing statue was discovered by a woman walking through the cemetery.

Anyone with information should contact the Norwich Police Department at (860) 886-5561.

Police are investigating "the likely theft of the life-sized statute"??  Excuse me, how about the obvious theft of the life-sized statute as there's no way it got up and walked away on its own or someone just removed it for a little while to clean it! "Likely theft" my left foot - enough with the politically correct b.s. of newspapers!  The statute is gone which means some asshat(s) took it without giving a damn about what it meant to people.

Regular readers of this blog will recall that I have spent a lot of time in the Yantic Cemetery (especially now that I live withing walking distance) so while reading that story I felt a sense of personal loss as I've taken many pictures of Sarah over the years and have always said that hers was my favorite monument in the Yantic Cemetery.  It was a beautiful tribute to someone who was obviously very well-loved.  To know that there were at least several dirtbags out there who thought it was okay to remove that statute from its place of honor in the cemetery just makes my blood boil.

The statute of the beautiful kneeling woman adorned the grave of Sarah Larned, wife of Charles Osgood, and was located towards the back of the cemetery so I'm sure that it was easy for several people to go unnoticed as they loaded her up and spirited her away.  No doubt this had to be a well-thought out plan as it wasn't like you could just pick the statute up and walk away with it.  Oh no, some morons carefully plotted this theft out and probably stole the statute so that they could sell it as I rather doubt they're going to display it in their front yard.

Honestly, this just makes me sick.

A few years ago there was an incident where vandals went though the Yantic Cemetery and broke over 100 of the gravestones located there.  A senseless act of destruction against the monuments of loved ones who had passed on. That act of mindless vandalism prompted the city to install floodlights at the cemetery so that local neighbors could report any sort of suspicious activity to the police and hopefully prevent the desecration of any more graves.  I believe that they have been successful in that but unless someone was walking through the cemetery at the time of this heinous theft, there's no way anyone would have seen it occur. 

And unless someone who knows firsthand about this horrible crime develops a conscience and calls police, I'm afraid that Sarah may be gone forever.  You honestly have no idea how sad this make me not just at the loss of a beautiful monument but at the realization - once again - that there are those out there who just don't give a damn about other people and how their actions affect them. 

Whoever you are and wherever you may be - I sincerely hope that the spirits of not just Sarah Larned and her husband Charles Osgood haunt your miserable lives for the rest of your living days but that the entire population of the Yantic Cemetery stalks your thieving asses and makes your lives a living hell.  As I doubt you'll ever get the jail time that you so richly deserve, I sincerely hope that karma does what the police can't. 

 

The above picture of Amanda and Sarah was taken in October of 2007 and will always be one of my favorites.

Tuesday Photos on Wednesday

Yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous day here in Connecticut so in honor of the sun shining and temperatures being quite reasonable, I talked Amanda into going for a walk with me after supper. I figure the kid needs to get out from behind that darned computer every once in awhile and what could be more tempting than a walk through our favorite cemetery which is now only a stone's throw away? Well, it might be more than a stone's throw for me but I bet some people could get one there from here!

At any rate, it was about 5:30 when we walked over to the Yantic Cemetery and there was still a beautiful blue sky above us so it gave me the perfect opportunity to take a few pictures. After all, I did bring my camera - just in case!

These two first shots are of the wrought iron main gates to the cemetery which are always left open and, from the looks of the rust on the wheels, have been left open for a very, very long time! The first shot is of the right side of the gate and the second is, of course, the left! I was inspired to take these pictures by a post that Mo of It's a Blog Eat Blog World had the other day for his Saturday Photo Hunt. His post was of a cemetery gate in Benton Harbor, Michigan and the gate there had fleur-de-lis ornamentation on top. I'm not sure what you'd call this pattern but I thought it was pretty cool!

This Celtic Cross is a grave marker for one of the graves towards the back of the cemetery. It's a little dark but I think you can still make out enough of it to see that it's very detailed. I have no problems picturing this gravestone standing on a lonely hillside in Ireland as fog rolls in over the lands.

This muse stands on a pretty high pedestal near one of the graves towards the front of the cemetery and I think it's quite beautiful. I can only imagine how much something like this would cost these days. Luckily, she's high enough up that vandals can't get at her either. No doubt whoever is buried here was a true music lover to have wanted this fine lady standing above his or her grave.

I have more cemetery pictures but I don't want to bore you guys to death (no pun intended, of course!) so I will save them for another day. Now that I live so close to the Yantic Cemetery, I get the feeling I'll be taking lots and lots of pictures there in the months to come. Luckily, there are some very unique grave markers there as well as some very beautiful trees so there is a lot to take pictures of.

As a final picture for today's post, I just couldn't help myself even though Amanda was really rolling her eyes when I did this one ...

I read recently that it's a good idea to try to capture a fly or two and put them in the habitat with your lizard as they are not only a tasty treat (blech!) but they also provide a source of exercise. It was warm enough for a few flies to be out and about yesterday so I went out and managed to catch a couple to give to Evra. If you guys want a good laugh, be here sometime when I'm out trying to stun - but not kill - flies to feed to a lizard! No doubt anyone who drove down our road was wondering what on earth I was out in the front yard doing!

The first fly I hit a little too hard and killed but Evra was a good sport and ate it anyway. The second one I brought back alive and I've got to say the thing didn't stand a chance! Lizards are quick when there's food on the fly ... sorry, couldn't help myself on that one either!

Hope everyone else had a great Tuesday; now if you'll excuse me I need to go dispatch ambulances for 16-hours ...