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Category Archives: Cemeteries
Sorting Letters at the Cemetery
While visiting Dunstan Cemetery, cemetery historian Ron Romano noticed unusual initials—“IMP’D O.R.M.” and “T.O.T.E.”—on Millard Whitten’s grave. They revealed Whitten’s membership in the Improved Order of Red Men, a once-popular fraternal organization. Romano explores these symbols and others found on Maine gravestones, uncovering how fraternal orders once shaped community and remembrance. Continue reading
Posted in Cemeteries, Other Organizations, People, Scarborough History
Tagged Cemetery Studies, Dunstan Cemetery, Fraternal Organizations, Gravestone Symbols, Improved Order of Red Men, Millard Whitten, Ron Romano, Saco History, Scarborough Historical Society
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Scarborough Town Farm Cemetery
Ron Romano’s The Graves of Scarborough’s Paupers: The Town Farm Cemetery, 1867–1891 offers a moving, thoroughly researched account of Scarborough’s 19th-century approach to caring for its poorest citizens. When the town purchased the Brackett Farm in 1867, it became a … Continue reading
Posted in Cemeteries, History, Notable Papers & Presentations, Scarborough History, Social Welfare & Poor Relief
Tagged 19th century, alms house, Broadturn Road, cemetery history, Deborah Dyer, Dunstan Cemetery, forgotten graves, historical research, Maine history, necrogeography, Overseers of the Poor, paupers, paupers’ field, Poor Farm, Priscilla Burnham, Ron Romano, Scarborough Historical Society, Scarborough Maine, social welfare, town farm, Town Farm Cemetery, town reports
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Cleaning Gravestones and Monuments
By Don Taylor Cleaning an ancestor’s marker, the marker of a veteran, or even the marker of a person you don’t know but see their monument is looking bad, can be a great source of accomplishment and pride. It is … Continue reading
Posted in Cemeteries
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William Graffam – Puzzle Editor
William H. Graffam (1853-1934) Puzzle Editor of West Scarborough, Maine By Larry Glatz of (East) Scarborough, Maine — 31 August 2022 For most who knew him locally, William Henry Graffam was a successful grocer and sometime postmaster at Dunstan’s Corner … Continue reading
Posted in Businesses, Cemeteries, Dunstan, Surname Files
Tagged Dunstan, Graffam, W. H. Graffam
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