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Tombs in Western Cemetery, photo from the Stewards website |
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Saturday, January 25, 2025
1:30pm
USM Glickman Library
314 Forest Ave., 7th Floor Event Room
Free |
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Was one of your resolutions to get out more this year? Join us in person for our 15th year of lectures. Learn something new and hob-knob with fellow historic cemetery enthusiasts! |
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Jonathan Peter Monro, a retired landscape architect, will describe the recent work of The Stewards of Western Cemetery to rehabilitate the heavily damaged, long neglected cemetery on the Western Prom. Jonathan is a co-founder and current secretary of the Stewards. He will describe the historic cemetery's national significance, technical gravestone repair efforts under way, the current capital campaign, and plans for improving this neighborhood treasure's infrastructure. |
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Rachel’s marble gravestone, photo by Diane Brakeley |
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Rachel Veazie Shaw’s gravemarker was recovered from the ground and restored to its original appearance in 2018 by the Spirits Alive conservation crew. Rachel died at age 79, having far outlived her two husbands. Often, you find grave markers from this time made for men with their wives listed under them, so it is interesting to see the reverse here.
She married Thomas Hilton in 1791, but he died soon after—in 1793. While we believe that he was laid to rest at Eastern Cemetery, no marker of his own from 1793 is known to exist there. The newspaper clipping announcing his death says he left behind “a widow and one child to lament their loss.”
Rachel was married again, in 1803, to Samuel Shaw. One boy and one girl under age 10 were documented in this family in 1810—probably Rachel’s and Samuel's. But the family was broken when Samuel was lost at sea in 1818, leaving Rachel as a two-time widow for the next 40 years of her life. When she died in 1849, she was laid to rest at plot J-106, immediately adjacent to her Veazie family relatives. Her gravestone marks her actual gravesite and serves as a cenotaph for the two husbands she lost long before. |
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RACHEL SHAW
DIED
Oct. 16, 1849
AEt. 79
Husbands of the deceased:
THOMAS HILTON
died Dec. 1793,
SAMUEL SHAW
was lost at sea June 1818. |
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The stone is marble with rounded top corners. Rachel's name is in relief, carved inside of a rectangle at the top. There is no other decoration. This is true of this grouping of family stones near her for John, Rachel, and Sarah Veazie. Check out the photos on our Flickr site to see how all of their stones were restored in 2018 by Spirits Alive.
As they are all so similar in style, it makes one wonder if a benevolent family member had them all made at the same time. This is an idea also supported by Ron Romano’s paper, Empty Graves, A Roster of Cenotaphs at Eastern Cemetery in the section, “Sorting the Findings.” |
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The annual Portland History Docent Program (PHD) starts Thursday, February 27. Spirits Alive is one of 10 organizations who come together to present training for those who are interested in becoming volunteers. Applications are open now! |
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Guess what cemetery fan group has its own shirts, caps, playing cards, and tote bags? Spirits Alive does, that’s who! Visit us on Zazzle to view all of our products. Please know that proceeds go directly back to Spirits Alive to help us fund our work to keep the Eastern Cemetery cared for and to teach others about its wonders. |
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You can help Spirits Alive keep the Eastern Cemetery alive for generations to come. 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
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