Eastern Cemetery Tours!
Through October 13
Wednesdays 1:30 pm, Saturdays 10:30 am & Sundays 1:30 pm
Explaining more about slate stones in the Eastern Cemetery. Photo by H. Doggett
This year Spirits Alive is offering tours 3 days a week! Come take a stroll with us through the 6-acre site. Learn about those interred, the art on their stones, and the city in which they died. Tours last 1-1/2 hours and are weather-dependent. Please be a little early so that guides can make change for you. Tickets are $7 adults, $4 students and seniors, and free for children 12 and under. We are excited to see you!
Stone Conservation Workdays
Saturdays: July 27 & August 17, 2013
9:00 am – 12:00 PM & 12:00 PM – 4:00 pm
Cleaning Isaac Walker's footstone. Photo by H. Doggett
This year we are beautifying the area around the tombs of the captains of the 1813 fight between the Boxer and the Enterprise. Learn about the proper techniques for resetting and cleaning fragile historic stones while preparing the area for their September anniversary. If you only want to come for a morning or an afternoon, please do! Wear appropriate get-dirty clothes. Layers, gardening gloves, and good shoes are suggested. We often work in wet conditions. Marvel at all of the things we accomplished at our workday on June 15 to get a good idea of what goes on during the conservation workdays and how you could learn!
Subterranean Celebrities: Dolly and Margaret Souther
Dolly: October 28, 1807
Margaret: September 3, 1806
Margaret and Dolly Souther rest side by side in the Eastern Cemetery. They both have a sunrise (some say sunset) image carved into the tympanum of their slate stones. The daughters of Edward and Dorothy Souther, they were too young to have much of a story, but it should be noted that their mother rests near them. She died September 18, 1807 at age 25. Their father was a "measurer of wood" according to the Portland directories, and this must have paid well for him to afford the stones and carvings. Edward died on August 2, 1824 at age 47, and he is buried near them as well.
Ron Romano is conducting research on these sunset or sunrise stones, and if you know of any in a cemetery you've visited, please let us know!
Dolly Souther's headstone. Photo by Ron Romano
Margaret Souther's headstone. Photo by Ron Romano
$5 Friendships!
Support the Eastern Cemetery with your giving
For only $5, you can help Spirits Alive keep the Eastern Cemetery alive for generations to come and join as a Friend. Through your support, you can help us, an ALL-VOLUNTEER organization, to continue to:
- Keep the gates open – encouraging the community to explore its open and safe green space
- Offer education about the cemetery and its residents to the public – through tours, lectures, and events
- Encourage and support the city in keeping the site clean and safe for visitors of all ages
- Preserve this incredible outdoor museum and sacred historic landscape
Go to: www.spiritsalive.org/join to take advantage of this offer today!
