Colonial Graveyards

09/05/2026

Nathaniel Dowse
At Phipps Street, Charlestown, Ma.
Plot K35

HERE LYES THE
BODY OF
NATHANIEL DOWS
SON OF CAPT
NATHANIEL & Mrs
DOROTHY […]

Nathaniel Dowse, son of Nathaniel and Dorothy (Edmands) Dowse, was born January 30, 1687/8. Church records state that he was baptized on the 19th day of the 12th month, 1687/8. He died November 13, 1713. The gravestone says he was aged 25 years, 9 months, and 16 days, math says it was 14 days.

09/04/2026

Daniel Parker's backdated stone.
At Phipps Street Burying Ground, Charlestown, Ma.

Opinion: This Lamson stone is dated 1694, but I'd wager this was carved just around Joseph's death, likely after. There are stones at Phipps with the checkerboard pattern dated as early as 1714, but they aren't as well carved as this.

Here Lyes Buried
ye Body of Mr.
DANIEL PARKER,
Aged about 27
Years Who Decd
October 18th 1694

Daniel Parker was born about 1667, and died October 18, 1694. He was the son of son of John and Anne Parker.

Daniel married Anna Errington sometime before 1687. Anna owned the covenant at the Charlestown church on November 2, 1690, listed in the record as "wife of D.P., daughter of widow Addenton of Cambridge," and was baptized there on January 31, 1690/91 (the split year reflects the Julian calendar's March 25 new year, still in use at the time). Daniel died in 1694, age about 27, according to his gravestone. Anna outlived him and remarried twice — first to John May, then to Thomas Coppin.

Daniel and Anna had three children: Anne (b. November 4, 1687, later m. Robert Ingols), John, and Isaac (both baptized as infants, in February 1690/91 and December 1692 respectively).

A footnote on the family: In 17th-century Massachusetts Bay parlance, "the Eastward" (or "eastward parts") referred to the Maine coast — anything east and north of the Bay Colony's core settlements, from Casco Bay through the Kennebec and beyond. An "eastward man" was simply someone from that frontier region, a label that shows up routinely in period town records. Daniel's father, John Parker, was one such man, originally of Falmouth (present-day Portland, Maine) — recorded in Charlestown's Selectmen's records as "an eastward man" when he received poor relief on January 30, 1676/77, likely a refugee from King Philip's War. He and his family fled south again in October 1689, this time noted as coming "from Kennebec" with his wife and daughter, amid the opening violence of King William's War — the Wabanaki assault on Falmouth's Fort Loyal followed in 1690. John died back in Falmouth around 1700; administration of his estate went to his daughter Elizabeth. So Daniel — who died in Charlestown in 1694 — was likely born into a family displaced by the Maine frontier wars, if not born a refugee himself.

09/03/2026

08/31/2026

Anna (Fuller) Wilson – Conaway, and grandson Ebenezer Hurd.
Phipps Street Burying Ground, Charlestown, Ma.
Plot J66

HERE LYES THE BODY OF
ANNA CONAWAY AGED
58 YEARS DYED Ye 21
OF IULY 1692
ALSO EBENEZER HURD
SON OF IACOB & ANNA
HURD AGED 9 DAYES
DYED Ye 20 OF IULY
1692

Anna is believed to have born in Stepney, Middlesex, England in August of 1638 — the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Fuller.
Anna Fuller married Benjamin Wilson in Chalestown, based on the birth of their child in 1655. Anne and Benjamin had the following children;
• Anna Wilson 1655-1728. Maried Jacob Hurd.
• Benjamin Wilson 1657-1663.
• Nathaniel Wilson 1661-1733.
• Benjamin Wilson 1664-1664.
• Jeremiah Wilson 1665-1743.

Benjamin Wilson died at sea about 1666, the year the inventory of his estate was taken, which amounted to £35. Anna married a second time to George Conaway April 3, 1671.
Buried with her is Ebenezer Hurd, the child of her daughter Anna, and her husband Jacob Hurd. He was only 9 “Dayes" old when he died the day before Anna, no cause recorded.

08/30/2026

Amy Peatfild (aka Patefield, Peatfield)
Phipps Street Burying Ground, Charlestown, Ma.
Plot M79

Amy's origins are unknown. She was bornabout 1615 as calculated from her approximate age when she died in 1691. According to Torrey's New England Marriages, she was maried to John Patefield by 1653. They had three daughters: Sarah (m. 1st John Strapen 1669, m. 2nd Matthew Soley), Mary (d. 1654 as a child), and Rebecca (b. 1657, m. Charles Chambers). John held property bought from R. Russell in 1661, part of which passed to son-in-law Soley by 1674/78.

08/30/2026

Young Benjamin Soley — 6 years, 9 months.
Phipps Street Burying Ground, Charlestown, Ma.

Benjamin's gravestone stands at plot M8.

BENIAMIN SOELEY
SON OF MATTHEW
& SARAH SOELEY
AGED 6 YEARS &
9 MO. DIED Ye 27 OF
DECEMBER 1688.

Benjamin Soley, born March 29, 1682, was the third child (and third son) of Matthew Soley, a Charlestown sea captain, and his wife Sarah (Strapen) Soley. He died December 27, 1688 — aged 6 years, 9 months.

Benjamin's older brothers John (b. 1677) and Matthew (b. 1679) both survived him; a younger sister, also named Sarah, wasn't born until 1684 — after their father had already died — and was the longest lived of the children.

Matthew Soley died in London, February of 1684. Sarah Soley died at New London Connecticut September 26, 1744 aged, aged 93 years &. 4 months.

Benjamin's father, Matthew Soley, was a sea captain who spent his career shuttling between New England and the Caribbean. In May 1679, Matthew gave a deposition in the divorce case of Elizabeth (Thomas) Lisley vs. Robert Lisley — he was one of five to do so. It seems most likely that Matthew had been the one to reveal Robert Lisley’s bigamy to Elizabeth. Elizabeth was successful in her suit against Robert.

08/20/2026

Abigail (Holman) Foster.
Dorchester North Burying Ground, Dorchester, Ma.

I like her husband's name; Standfast Foster.

HERE LYES Ye
BODY OF ABIGAIL
Ye WIFE OF CAPT.
STANDFAST FOSTER
AGED 47 YEARS
DIED JUNE Ye 22
1713

Abigail was born in Milton Massachusetts September 25, 1665, the first of eleven children of Thomas and Abigail (Rigby) Holman. On October 3, 1688, Abigail married Standfast Foster — a maltster of Dorchester.

Issue of Abigail and Standfast:
1. Comfort. bapt. June 29, 1689; m. Eleanor Woods and later Abiel Withington.
2. Abigail, b. March 18, 1692; d. Sept. 27, 1695.
3. Elisha, b June 18, 1696; d. November, 1775.
4. Mary b. Oct. 31,, 1700; d. March 16, 170I.

After Abigail died June 22, 1713, Standfast married Sarah (Miller?), the marriage published at Boston, May 27, 1714.

08/19/2026

Miriam (Cook) Leeds.
Dorchester North Burying Ground, Dorchester, Ma.

Foster, 1720-1732 (James I, James II, Hopestill)

HERE LYES Ye
BODY OF MERIAM
LEADS WIDDOW
OF JOSEPH LEADS
AGED ABOUGHT 78
YEARS DIED AUGUST
Ye 23D 1720

Miriam was born November 12, 1643 in Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut, the daughter of Major Aaron Cooke and his wife. Aaron himself had crossed the Atlantic as a boy in 1630, sailing on the ship Mary and John with his mother Elizabeth (Charde) and stepfather Thomas Ford — one of roughly 140 passengers in the company that founded Dorchester, Massachusetts, before the family moved on to help settle Windsor. Aaron later served as a militia officer, commanding the garrison at Westfield in 1675 during King Philip's War.

Miriam married Joseph Leeds in Northampton, Massachusetts on the 8th of November 1661. Joseph was born July 7, 1637 in Dorchester, the son of Richard Leeds, who had emigrated from Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England in 1637, and his wife Joan.

By 1661 Joseph had moved to Northampton, but was fighting on the frontier again by 1676 — he took part in the Falls Fight on May 19 of that year, one of the major engagements of King Philip's War. In 1677 he and Miriam moved back to Dorchester, where Joseph stayed for the rest of his life. He died January 28, 1714/5, and was buried at Dorchester North Burying Ground, Boston, Massachusetts, with the inscription: "Here lyes he body of Joseph Leedes aged about 77 died January he 28th 1714/5."

Their children, confirmed by Northampton and Dorchester town vital records:

Miriam Leeds, b: 1663, d: 1663 (infancy)
Joseph Leeds, b: 06 May 1665, d: 1747
Johanna Leeds, b: 1667
Miriam Leeds, b: 1669
John Leeds, b: 1672, d: 1672 (infancy)
John Leeds, b: 1673
Benjamin Leeds, b: 1677, d: 2 Oct 1679
Samuel Leeds, b: 19 Dec 1679, d: 1745
Nathaniel Leeds, b: 27 Apr 1682, d: 1707
Elizabeth Leeds, b: 07 Sep 1684, m: Samuel Deeble/Dibble
Rebecca Leeds, b: 1686

(Oddly, records have a second Joseph whose death was recorded in 1674. There was possibly an unnamed infant born and died in 1676)

About Joseph:

His parents were Joan and Richard Leeds. He was born on July 7, 1637 in Dorchester, and baptized on April 4, 1639.

By 1661 he had moved to Northampton, Massachusetts.

He was in the Falls Fight on 19 May 1676.

In 1677 he moved back to Dorchester, Suffolk County, Massachusetts.

He died on 28 Jan 1714/5 in Dorchester, Suffolk County, Massachusetts and was buried at Dorchester North Burying Ground, Boston, Massachusetts, with inscription: "Here lyes he body of Joseph Leedes aged about 77 died January he 28th 1714/5."

08/18/2026

Deacon Samuel Johnson.
South Cemetery, Lunenburg, Massachusetts

A portrait of the good Deacon, carved by William Park of Groton, Ma. It does have a very interesting misspelling; his mind must have been elsewhere.

Memento mori
Here lies the B***y of
Deacon Samuel Johnson
who departed this life July
the 11th AD 1765 in the 73d
year of his Age

The sin of Adam is laid me lo
For sin hath wrought an overthro
From dust I came to dust I' am come
And now the dust is become my home
When Christ com's down with saints to raing
Then dust me no mor shall detain

Samuel was born in Woburn Massachusetts on Feb. 21st, 1696, and was the first of John and Mary (Carley) Johnson. In July of 1718 he married Rebecca Wilson in Woburn, they removed to Lunenburg Massachusetts some time before Nov. 2nd, 1719 and the birth of Rebecca, the first of their 6 children. Rebecca is in the maternal line of President Garfield.

Samuel died a good distance from home, in Rowley Massachusetts, on July 11th, 1765, he was then removed and buried at South Cemetery in Lunenburg.

08/18/2026

Miriam Wood — School Dame
Dorchester North Burying Ground, Dorchester, Ma.

HERE LYES Ye BODY
OF MIRIAM WOOD
FORMERLY WIFE TO JOHN SMITH
AGED 73 YEARS
DIED OCTOBER Ye 19th.
1706

A Woman well beloved of all
her neighbours from her care of small
Folks education their number being great
that when she dy'd she scarsely left her mate
So Wise Discre[et] was her behaviours
that she was well esteemed by neighbours
She liv'd in love with all to dy[e]
So let her rest [to] Eternaty.

The epitaph credits her with "care of small folks' education" — she ran an informal school for young children in town. These informal schools, often run by housewives or widows were referred to as "Dame Schools". She would have taught them the alphabet, basic reading (frequently with a hornbook or the New England Primer), the catechism, and simple prayers. In exchange for modest fees, sometimes paid in goods. The “school dame” provided the foundational literacy that Puritan laws required while also offering overworked mothers a few hours of relief.

Miriam, sometimes spelt Meriam, would have been born about 1633 as calculated from her gravestone. A 19th-century genealogist concluded that she was born a Deane, kin of Stephen Deane the Mayflower passenger, but that has since been disproved. Her origins are still unknown.

She married John Smith first and had seven children with him —
1. Samuel, b. 1 March 1658/9
2. James
3. Mary
4. Hannah/Anna, b. 1664, m. 10 Sep 1684 Moses Barrett
5. Miriam, m. bef. 1688 John Glover
6. Sarah
7. David

John Smith died in 1676, she remarried to Ellis Wood around 1680, was recorded as his wife at the Dorchester church in September 1682 and was widowed again in 1694. A 1680 town record lists her among recipients of a charitable legacy by Jane Burge which was paid by John Mason — in shoes.

In 1706, the town clerk grouped her death with a handful of other elderly, long-time residents who died around the same time: "Old mother Pelton, the aged and pious widow Woods, Father Maudsly, and Father Pierce, deceased lately."