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In the 1700s, naming children after family members (grandparents, parents) was the dominant tradition, but, by the early 1800s naming children after powerful figures, heroes, or even local leaders became more commonplace. In Old Parish Cemetery, there are three who were named for very famous figures: Benjamin Franklin, William Henry Harrison, and Isaac Newton. Lot 115 Benjamin Franklin Fairbanks (1806-1874) Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was an American polymath: a writer, sc

Oliver Ellis (1745-1821) Mary Colburn Ellis (1754-1826) Hannah Ellis Rhoads (1784-1854) Oliver Ellis Jr. (1787-1823) Oliver Ellis was born on May 10, 1745. He was the son of Aaron Ellis and Zipporah Lewis Ellis. He was a Corporal in Capt. David Fairbanks’s militia company which marched on the alarm of April 19, 1775. On December 16, 1779, Oliver Ellis married Mary Colburn. Her parents were Samuel Colburn and Mercy Dean Colburn. Oliver and Mary ran a farm and raised four chi

Lot 13 Sarah A. Godfrey Webster (1801-1889) Sarah A. Godfrey was born on February 20, 1801 in Nova Scotia, Canada. She was the daughter of Elisha and Elizabeth Godfrey. In June of 1821, Sarah Godfrey married Daniel Webster who was also born in Nova Scotia. The couple had eleven children: Elisha, Edwin, Daniel, Mary, Matthew, John, Lawson, Godfrey, Mary Elizabeth, Henry and Clara, all born in Canada. Typical ship list of passengers Halifax to Boston. At some point, Sarah

Lot 111 Old Parish Cemetery Lot 393 Highland Cemetgery Edwin W. Page (1860-1877) Addie W. Page (1862-1862) Herbert W. Page (1865-1865) Samuel Newell Page was born on January 26, 1828 in Maine. On November 29, 1855, he married Emily B. Fairbanks of Dedham. Emily was the daughter of James M. Fairbanks and Roxanna Gay Fairbanks (lot 118). Samuel and Emily Page had four children, three of whom died young. Edwin W. Page was born on October 25, 1860. He died on June 30, 187

Peter Wagner (c. 1823-1862) Lot 185 Johauss Hurst (1838-1862) Lot 184 Arthur Lowell (1870-1880) Lot 116 Frank Brooks (1885-1888) Lot 69/Highland 36 Curtis Talbot (1798-1884) Lot 105 In the eighteenth century, the nicknamed given to South Dedham was “Tiot.” Throughout the town’s

Ezra Morse (1718-1755) This Ezra Morse was born on March 26, in 1717 or 1718, depending on the record, in Dedham. He was the son of Ezra Morse (1694-1789) and his wife Anna White. He was the grandson of Ezra Morse (1671-1760), the mill owner and Deacon. On July 3, 1740, Ezra Morse married Bethiah Lewis also of Dedham. She was the daughter of William Lewis and Bethiah Colburn Lewis. Ezra and Bethiah had five children: Ezra, Bethiah, Oliver, Sarah, and Priscilla. Ezra M

Thomas Child Rhoads (1818-1888) Harriet Annabelle Thompson Rhoads (1823-1867) Olive Hannah Henry Rhoads (1833-1892) Betsy Child Rhoads (1782-1866) Albert Lewis Rhoads (1860-1940) Angelina Dobson Rhoads (1868-1949) Thomas C. Rhoads1818-1888 Thomas Child Rhoads was born on June 6, 1818. He was the son of Aaron Rhoads and Betsy Child Rhoads, of Roxbury. On April 25, 1841, Thomas Rhoads married Harriet A. Thompson, known as Hazel, who was born on June 3, 1823 in Maine. Thomas

Lucy Ann Fairbanks (1831-1897) Lucy Ann Fairbanks was born in 1831. She was the daughter of James M. Fairbanks and Roxanna Gay Fairbanks. Fairbanks was a farmer who built a farmhouse in the late 1840s on land that had been deeded to him by his grandfather, Benjamin Fairbanks, of Dedham. His farm and home were located along today’s Prospect Street. Fairbanks Home on Prospect as it appeared in late 19th century. Fairbanks Home as it appeared in 2023. A childhood illness

Lot 227 John Bullard (1690-1745) John Bullard was born on August 27, 1690. He was the son of Samuel Bullard (1659-1747) and Hannah Thorp Bullard (1665-1711). On May 29, 1718, John Bullard married Rebeckah White in Boston. Rebeckah was the daughter of Henry White and Mary Weeks White of Dorchester. She was born in Dorchester on December 10, 1696. John and Rebeckah Bullard had eight children: John (lot 224), Josiah, Hannah (who married Nathaniel Sumner and was interred i

Dr. John Kingsbury Briggs (1794-1843) Plot 124 (crypt 3 off Washington St.) The youngest of twelve children born to Ephraim and Rebecca (Waterman) Briggs, John Kingsbury Briggs was born on December 9, 1794 in Halifax (Plymouth County), Massachusetts. He studied medicine under the direction of Dr. Arad Thompson of Middleborough and Dr. William Ingalls of Boston. He received his MD at Brown University in 1820. He married Hannah Chickering (the daughter of Rev. Jabez Chick

On April 22, 1833, Dedham selectmen established South Dedham’s first fire company. Their announcement read: “By virtue of the statute of 1785, 1805, and 1827 – We, the Subscribers have nominated and appointed and do hereby nominate and appoint, the following persons to be Engine-men – Joseph Day, Newell Bullen, John Dean 4th, Robert H. Baker, Horace Aldrich, William Phelan, Lewis Ellis, Curtis G. Morse, James M. Lincoln, Loman Morse, Ebenezer Dean Jr., John E. Hartshorn, Mo

Olive R. Fairbanks (1819-1900) Olive Ruggles Fairbanks was born on August 20, 1819. She was the daughter of Samuel Fairbanks of Newton, Massachusetts and Mrs. Hannah Everett Jackson. It was her mother’s second marriage. For many years after the death of her parents Olive, who never married, lived with relatives or friends. Her life was perhaps indicative of the circumstances of single women without an education or trade in the nineteenth century. In the 1870 census, Olive

Often overlooked in the history books, the role of “father” has always been of vital importance to men. Among the gravestones in Old Parish Cemetery are a few which call specific attention to this familial role. Charles A. Bishop (1859-1929) Lot 13 Charles Adrian Bishop was born on March 16, 1859. He was the only child of Charles Nelson Bishop and Clarinda Webster Bishop who were married in Nova Scotia in 1858. In 1885, in Norwood, Charles married Julia El

Ellis Fuller (1788-1857) Lucy Gay Fuller (1792-1868) Ellis Fuller was born in 1788 to Eliphalet and Elenor Ellis Fuller. He was one of four children. On August 1, 1815, Ellis married Lucy Gay of Salisbury. She was born on July 30, 1792. The couple had two children: William Ellis Fuller (1816-1886), and Alvin Fuller (1821-1905). Following in the footsteps of his father, Ellis Fuller was a farmer. He was also elected to Dedham’s Board of Selectmen in 1833 and served for 7

Lot 89 John Tyler Bragdon (1810-1875) Julia Ann Pomeroy Bragdon (1819-1891) John Montgomery Bragdon (1840-1904) Annie Bragdon (1858-1877) John Tyler Bragdon was born in Maine in 1810. On November 27, 1838, he married Julia Ann Pomeroy who was born in 1819. The couple had eight children: John M., Frederick (who died in infancy), William (who died at 2 years of age), Frederick William (who passed away at 3 years of age), Lydia, Everett (who died at 2), Annie, and Emma. Jo

Joel Morse was born n March 5, 1785, one of ten children born to Seth Morse, Jr. (1753-1801) and Mary Dean Morse (1754-1842) (lot 175-176). As a young man, Joel’s father, Seth Morse, Jr. answered the militia call on April 19, 1775 on the day of the Battle of Lexington and Concord. Sometime in 1813, Joel Morse married Azubah Hodges, who was born in New Hampshire. They had two sons: Joel (1815-1877) and Mark (1820-1885); Joel moved to Medfield, Mark to Norton. Joel Morse di

Lot 166, 167 Captain William Everett (1757-1802) Sarah Blackman Everett (1761-1802) William Everett Jr. was born on May 5, 1757 in Dedham. His parents were William Everett (lot 169) and Sarah Clapp Everett (lot 171). On July 30, 1785, William Everett married Sarah Blackman who had been born in Stoughton on August 15, 1761. Her parents were Adam and Mary Blackman. William and Sarah Blackman Everett had nine children: Joel (lot 165), Betsey (lot 168), Ira, Oliver (lot 17

Eliphalet Fales, Jr. (1743-1825) Abigail Everett Fales (1742-1777) Milley (Melitiah) Fales (1772-1786) Eliphalet Fales, Jr. (1743-1825) was born on November 3, 1743. He was the son of Eliphalet Fales and Abigail Everett Fales. Eliphalet Fales Jr. was a veteran of the Revolutionary War. Around 1770, Fales married Abigail Everett, the daughter of Edward Everett and Mary Allen Everett. Abigail was born on March 9, 1742. The couple had three children: Milley, born in 1772; Ab

Childbirth in early America was a difficult and sometimes dangerous experience for women. Records indicated that between 1 percent and 1.5 percent of all births ended in the mother’s death as a result of exhaustion, dehydration, infection, hemorrhage, or convulsions. Since the typical mother gave birth to between five and eight children, her lifetime chances of dying in childbirth ran as high as 1 in 8. Death was sufficiently common that many women regarded pregnancy with dre

Ellen A. Pond (1845-1919) Ellen Augusta Pond was born on May 7, 1845 in South Dedham. She was the daughter and only child of John C. Pond (1814-1906) and Mary E. Lewis Pond (1818-1896). According to a friend’s diary, in February of 1880, Ellen was hospitalized and her foot amputated; she returned home on May 6, 1880. The 1880 Census also makes note of her disability. She did not work outside the home. After the deaths of her parents, Ellen boarded in various homes, chiefl