Cape Cod gravestones can be viewed online

So far, I can’t get beyond Daniel Eldridge of Clinton to his forebears who may well be from Cape Cod, Mass. I’m guessing he would be at least a cousin, if not a descendant, of Elisha Eldredg, buried in Duck Creek Cemetery in Wellfleet.

I’ve never been there, but I’ve seen his gravestone, and I know that it reads: “Here Lyes Ye Body of Mr Elisha Eldredg Dec’d October 14, 1739 In Ye 87th Year Of His Age.”

It’s the oldest existing gravestone in the cemetery, according to a wonderful Web site at www.capecodgravestones.com.

Other 18th century gravestones in the cemetery which may be viewed online include those for Sarah Smith, Abiah Harding, Hannah Smith, Benjamin Sweat, William Treet, Rebeckah Young, Moses Cohoon, Elisha Doane, Zoheth Smith, Henry Worhmsley, Ebenezer Freeman, Benjamin Wiley, Elizabeth Mayo, Hudson Vickery and more.

Even more names are included in the chronological listings of Wellfleet gravestones from 1739 to 1860 and later, done generally in 10-year groupings.

The Web site is the project of Robert Paine Carlson, who not only wanted to photograph interesting old gravestones in Barnstable County, but also to provide gravestone records from 1683 to at least 1860.

Since many old gravestones are gone, the listing isn’t complete, but there are 26,000 names and dates listed by cemetery. Of the 3,700 from the 1700s, only about 2,600 of those gravestones still exist, Carlson states.

You can look at the listings by cemetery in each town if you like, an approach which is worthwhile if you know where your ancestors lived.

As for an overall index by name, Carlson says the best way to look up a name is to use the Google search engine. In the search box, enter capecodgravestones+name, with no spaces.

For instance, I looked up my ancestor Edmond Freeman by entering capecodgravestones+edmond+freeman.

I found the Sandwich Saddle & Pillion Cemetery, with listings and photographs for two gravestones:

Edmond Freeman Born In England 1590, Died in Sandwich 1682, A Founder of the Town of Sandwich in 1637, Assistant to Governor Bradford 1640-1647.

Elizabeth Freeman Wife of Edmond Freeman Born in England 1600, Died in Sandwich 1675-6. These look to be plaques that were placed later on the gravestones, flat on the ground.

Photographs of original gravestones include those for Jeremiah Mayo, who died Nov. 9, 1765, in his 65th year, and is buried in Duck Creek Cemetery in Wellfleet.

Carlson also has made an effort to include listings from elsewhere when possible. In addition to names and dates for Eastham Cove Burying Ground, there is a separate section for those who may be buried in unmarked graves in that cemetery. It offers deaths from Eastham Vital Records up to 1750, taken from The Mayflower Descendant Volumes 3-33.

Needless to say, this Web site is worth a visit. Barnstable County comprises Barnstable, Bourne, Brewster, Chatham, Dennis, Eastham, Falmouth, Harwich, Mashpee, Orleans, Provincetown, Sandwich, Truro, Wellfleet and Yarmouth.

Those interested in Bangor history are looking forward to Carol Smith Fisher’s planned book on the life of the Rev. Seth Noble, Bangor’s first minister and the man who carried the petition for incorporation to the court in Massachusetts.

Fisher will discuss her theory of how the name Bangor was finally chosen for the emerging town in a talk at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, at the Bangor Museum and Center for History, 25 Broad St. She also will present new evidence which places Noble among the first to have publicly called for independence from Great Britain. In 2003, Fisher gave the city of Bangor a copy of the original incorporation papers, signed by John Hancock.

Also on Saturday, the museum will display winter artifacts such as skis and ice skates from the 19th and early 20th centuries. For information, call Willow Martin at 942-1910.

WMPG Radio and Portland Harbor Museum in South Portland have received a federal grant to conduct 35 interviews with World War II shipyard workers from South Portland and former residents in the Ferry Village neighborhood where the shipyards were.

The interviews will focus on “homefront veterans” who build Liberty Ships for the WWII effort, and with area residents 1941-1945. The interviews will be transcribed and archived, and there will be a traveling kiosk exhibit for libraries and other organizations.

If you know of someone who should be interviewed, contact shipyardhistory@yahoo.com or call Portland Harbor Museum at 799-6337.

Send genealogy queries to Family Ties, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402; or send e-mail, familyti@bangordailynews.net.