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The Poundkeeper & His Family
Lot 112 Alvin L. Ellis (1819-1876) Martha B. Dean Ellis (1822-1869) Alfred B. Ellis (1841-1870) Abbie Frances Ellis (1845-1872) Caroline Ellis (1847-1871) Anna Ellis Cowell (1849-1873) Hannah Ellis (1851-1851) Eva Maria Ellis (1852-1853) Adelia Marie Ellis (1854-1854) Alvin L. Ellis, Jr. (1855-1874) Mabel Ellis (1858-1858) Walter D. Ellis (1860-1860) Malone F. Ellis (1862-1862) Edwin Louis Cowell (1872-1872) Typical New England Poundkeeper of 1870s The Alvin Ellis family fa

Patricia Fanning
2 days ago3 min read


Scarlet Fever's 19th Century Impact on South Dedham Children
Scarlet fever, also known as scarlatina, is a bacterial illness that can develop in some people who have strep throat. It features a bright red rash that covers most of the body. Scarlet fever almost always includes a sore throat and a high fever. Scarlet fever remains most common in children 5 to 15 years of age. In the nineteenth century, before the inception of antibiotics, scarlet fever was a serious childhood illness, one that could easily become life-threatening. Even t

Patricia Fanning
Jan 92 min read


The Bailey Family, Frank & Lizzie
Lot 30 Frank E. Bailey (1853-1921) Lizzie Frances Trask Bailey (1858-1947) Edward Bailey (1883-1884) Frank E. Bailey was born on July 27, 1853. He was the son of Charles Bailey and Julia Ann Litchfield Bailey. Julia Ann Bailey died in 1871 of lockjaw and, in 1873, Frank’s father married Mary Elizabeth Burke Trask who brought two daughters into their marriage: Ella and Lizzie. On October 8, 1874, Frank E. Bailey married Lizzie Frances Trask, the daughter of his father’

Patricia Fanning
Jan 21 min read


A Short Life in South Dedham, Betsey Everett
Betsey Everett (1787-1812) Lot 168 Betsey Everett was born on September 20, 1787. She was the second child, and first daughter, of William Everett Jr., (lot 166) and his wife, Sarah Blackman Everett (lot 167). Betsey did not marry. She died on February 28, 1812. She was interred in Old Parish Cemetery, beside her mother. In keeping with her parents and brother, Joel (lot 165), her stone has an interesting epitaph. It reads: In memory of Miss BETSEY EVERETT who died in B

Patricia Fanning
Dec 26, 20251 min read


Rest & Jeremiah Kingsbury, Early South Dedham Residents
Jeremiah Kingsbury (1701-1786) lot 136 Rest White Kingsbury (1699-1789) lot 137 Jeremiah Kingsbury was born on March 24, 1701. He was the son of Nathaniel and Abigail Baker Kingsbury. He became a farmer and settled in the area designated as South Dedham. On September 22, 1727, Jeremiah Kingsbury married Rest White. She was the daughter of Henry and Mary Weeks White of Dorchester and was born in 1699. Jeremiah an

Patricia Fanning
Dec 19, 20251 min read


Page's Field: Joseph,Elizabeth, John,& Nancy
Joseph Page (1797-1882) Elizabeth Farrington Page (1801-1868) Joseph Page was born on December 3, 1797 in Walpole. His parents were Joseph and Louise Page, also from Walpole. On October 22, 1826, Joseph Page married Elizabeth Farrington Page. She had been born on August 25, 1801 to Ebenezer and Elizabeth Farrington. The Pages ran a successful farm with a home built at today’s 397 Washington Street. The couple had one child: John B. Page who was born in 1827. He too be

Patricia Fanning
Dec 12, 20251 min read


Halifax, Nova Scotia and the Boston Christmas Tree
On December 6, 1917, a Norwegian vessel and a French munitions ship collided in the harbor in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The explosion, one of the largest accidental explosions in history, destroyed much of the city of Halifax. Boston, Massachusetts authorities learned of the disaster by telegraph, and quickly organized and dispatched a relief train to assist survivors. A blizzard delayed the train, which arrived in the early morning of December 8 and immediately began distributin

Patricia Fanning
Dec 5, 20254 min read


The Life and Legacy of Jesse Ellis: A Historical Journey Through South Dedham's Ellis Family
Jesse Ellis (1790-1866) Julia Dean Ellis (1794-1876) Martha Emily Ellis Ellis (1843-1868) Lenore E. Ellis (1868-1868) Jesse Ellis was born on September 12, 1790. His father was Joel Ellis and his mother was Azubah Morse Ellis. He became a farmer and lived in the “Ellis Neighborhood” of South Dedham. His home still stands at 88 Washington Street. Jesse Ellis home as it appears in 2022 in the "Ellis Neighborhood" of South Dedham. On September 8, 1822, Jesse Ellis married

Patricia Fanning
Nov 28, 20252 min read


Petition for New Town
On November 22, 1871, led by George B. Talbot, men of South Dedham wrote, signed, and sent to the Massachusetts Senate and House of Representatives a petition for a new town, “to be called Lyman, or such other name as may be deemed proper…” The town was, of course, eventually called Norwood. Bryant Tolles writes in his centennial history of the town that the warrant for the Dedham Town Meeting of January 22, 1872 contained the following article: “To see what action the town

Patricia Fanning
Nov 21, 20253 min read


The Nelson Family: Service, Loss, and Remembrance in Norwood
Major Jesse Nelson lot 16, Highland lot 141 Flora Louisa Nelson (1870-1871) Albert Stephen Nelson (1872-1872) Jesse Edwin Nelson (1875-1881) Major (his given name) Jesse Nelson was born in 1841 in New Hampshire. During the Civil War, he enlisted as a private in Company D, of the 12 th New Hampshire Volunteers, a famous fighting regiment. He served from August 12, 1862 until June 21, 1865 and was in the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville among others. Nelson

Patricia Fanning
Nov 14, 20252 min read


William and Rebekah Coney: A Life of Service and Family Legacy
William Coney (1745-1816) Rebekah Bullard Coney (c 1752-1831) William Coney: A Life of Service and Family Legacy William Coney was born on March 4, 1745 in Stoughton. He was the son of Nathaniel and Sarah Morse Coney. William was the brother of Sarah Coney, who became the wife of Aaron Guild. On January 12, 1771, William Coney married Rebekah Bullard, the daughter of John and Rebeckah White Bullard. Rebeckah Bullard Coney was born around 1752. On April 19, 1775, William

Patricia Fanning
Nov 7, 20251 min read


The Fragile Lives of the Gay Sisters: A Tale from Old Parish Cemetery
Lucy Gay (1774-1791) Sarah Gay (1775-1794) Sintha Gay (1777-1779) On the slope of Old Parish Cemetery, under the large Eastern White Pine tree, stand the graves of three young girls, Lucy, Sarah, and Sintha Gay. All were the daughters of Jesse Gay (1747-1837) and his wife, Sarah Gould Gay (1749-1836). Jesse was the son of Timothy and Azubah Thorp Gay and the brother of Azubah Gay, who died in 1741, the earliest burial in the cemetery. Jesse Gay married Sarah Go

Patricia Fanning
Oct 31, 20251 min read


Percy T. Morse, Founding Member of Norwood Odd Fellows Lodge
Percy T. Morse (1860-1892) Percy T. Morse was born on January 22, 1860 in South Dedham, His parents were Francis Morse (1821-1885) and his second wife, Lucie Grogan Morse (1830-1913). This second marriage brought three children into the family: Belle L. in 1859, Percy T. in 1860, and Jennie in 1868. Francis Morse had two children from his first marriage. Following in the footsteps of that branch of the family tree, Francis Morse was a miller, with his home and mill at the

Patricia Fanning
Oct 24, 20251 min read


The Legacy of Jonathan and Anah Fuller: A Journey Through Family History
Jonathan Fuller (1759-1834) Anah Guild Fuller (1762-1843) Jonathan Fuller was born on December 19, 1759. He was the son of Seth and Sarah Fuller, and the brother of Eliphalet Fuller, whose widow, Elenor Ellis Fuller is interred in lot 38. On February 21, 1784, Jonathan Fuller married Anah Guild. Anah Guild was born on March 19, 1762. She was the daughter of Aaron Guild and Anna Coney Guild (Guild’s second wife). The couple had four children: Samuel Gould Fuller, Jason F

Patricia Fanning
Oct 17, 20251 min read


The Legacy of Herman and Lavina Fisher: A Family History Unveiled
Herman Fuller Fisher (c. 1790-1861) Lavina Morse Andrews Fisher (1801-?) Julia L. Fisher (1827-1828) Herman Fuller Fisher was born...

Patricia Fanning
Oct 10, 20251 min read


Willard Dean of Pleasant St.
Willard Dean (1844-1936) Frances M. Dean Dean (1848-1887) Balch Dean (1837-1899) Willard Dean at his home on Pleasant S Willard Dean...

Patricia Fanning
Oct 3, 20252 min read


Two Children of Rev. Harrison G. Park
Hannah Elizabeth Park (1851-1851) Montgomery Newell Park (1845-1866) Harrison G. Park was born in 1796 and graduated from Brown...

Patricia Fanning
Sep 26, 20251 min read


Pond and Day Families in Old Parish Cemetery
Martha Sumner Pond Day (1822-1902) Charles T. Pond (1816-1846) Ebenezer C. Day (1816-1873) Martha Sumner was born on February 15, 1822....

Patricia Fanning
Sep 19, 20252 min read


Young Diphtheria Victim, Herbert Ellis
Herbert Ellis (1869-1881) Herbert Ellis was born on January 20, 1869. His parents were Albert C. Ellis and Harriet L. Tuttle Ellis, who...

Patricia Fanning
Sep 12, 20252 min read


Phineas & Jerusha Dean Early Colonists & Patriots
Phineas Ellis Dean (1762-1834) Jerusha White Dean (1758-1832) Phineas Ellis Dean was born on August 18, 1762. He was the son of...

Patricia Fanning
Sep 5, 20251 min read
