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Ebenezer Everett, the son of Deacon John Everett, was born on August 5, 1707. He married Joanna Stevens in March of 1734 in North Andover. He was chosen Deacon of the South Parish’s church on November 30, 1760, a post he held until his death on May 19, 1778 at the age of 71. Joanna Stevens Everett died on June 21, 1791.
Ebenezer and Joanna Everett were the parents of 11 children including Rev. Moses Everett – who married Rev. Thomas Balch’s daughter, Lucy – the ninth minister of Dorchester, and Rev. Oliver Everett, the fourth pastor of the New South Church in Boston. They were the grandparents of the orator and statesman, Gov. Edward Everett (son of Rev. Oliver Everett).
Around 1740, Deacon Ebenezer Everett built his home on the old Roebuck Road (Pleasant Street). It stood on the corner of Willow Street until sometime after 1887.
When the house was demolished, Fred Holland Day, local historian and collector, salvaged a cast-iron fireplace frame and crane which he had installed in the library of the Day family’s home when it was remodeled in the early 1890s. Sometime in the 1930s, the Norwood Historical Society, which had purchased the Day’s home after the death of Fred Holland Day, used a bookplate containing the image of the fireplace.
According to one expert, the unusual double gravestone of Ebenezer and Joanna Everett was carved by Daniel Farrington, who had a shop in Wrentham. You will note that the effigy of Joanna is slightly shorter than her husband’s. The even more unique footstone with its own winged effigies, was uncovered and reset by Old Parish Preservation Volunteers.
In September, 1937, the Boston Globe reported there were numerous reports of vandalism at the Old Parish Cemetery. Stones were toppled and defaced and it was noted that some “boys” were using parts of the cemetery for target practice. It certainly looks like Ebenezer and Joanna Everett’s footstone was struck by some kind of projectile, perhaps a stray (or not so stray) bullet.
