Friends of Oak Grove

Shelley · Post by **Shelley** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 1:19 am

It has been no secret that I am a taphophile- a lover of old cemeteries. Forum member Jeff and I met two summers ago wandering around Oak Grove, communing with Nature and the Past. Oak Grove is among my top three favorites in New England, with Mount Auburn and Concord's Author's Ridge being the other two favorites.

Last summer I began a trade paper booklet about the history of the cemetery which should see fruition at last this winter. I wanted to begin the year with another project, a companion piece to the booklet, a blog called Friends of Oak Grove, which I hope people here will enjoy.
It is my hope that more will take an interest in the welfare of the cemetery for it, like so many others is always short of funds, volunteers, and it is sad to see old photos of Oak Grove in other decades when there was a large staff, greenhouses and many volunteers to help with the flower beds, weeding, and upkeep. Times have changed and many people do not have the time to visit departed family, see to the upkeep of graves, -and vandalism, so rampant there in the 80's has taken a toll. My ultimate goal is to put together a group of "Friends" who might meet on Memorial Day and perhaps once a month in good weather to lend a hand as needed. This is still getting off the ground, but I'd like to make a start.

The blog may be found at http://oakgrovecemetery.wordpress.com/ and is a work in progress.

Tina-Kate · Post by **Tina-Kate** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 10:42 am

Very cool, Shelley!

Shelley · Post by **Shelley** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 11:55 am

One of the first projects will be to photograph and record the names in the Civil War plot which is visible when one passes through the main gate. Col. Richard Borden was responsible for the beautiful obelisk marking this special section, although there are many Civil War Dead in other places in the cemetery. Some of the best-preserved Civil War monuments are made of metal which has taken the weather well and the relief of the markings is almost pristine. although the monuments have a patina of many days out in all weathers.

At one time, the graves of the Bordens were covered with ageratum and red geramiums every Memorial Day. Some said it was the offering of the Animal Rescue League- sadly that stopped maybe 10 years ago. At one time Oak Grove had extensive greenhouses offsite and grew mountains of beautiful flowers. They are gone now. The Oak Grove flower beds were amazing back in the 1930's-40's. Today the inside of the Ladies Comfort Station is a break room for the few workers who mow lawns and attend to the daily work of the cemetery. The beautiful wainscotting is there still and the grecian tile lavatory- much covered in dirt. The stained glass lancet windows have been removed or broken- and boarded up with wood. There simply is no money for repairs. The office has fared better. The saddest thing of all is the lack of flowers although the old beds in the triangle of crossing roads and paths are still there.

The holding tomb where the Bordens reposed for a week awaiting their autopsy is now crammed with old lawn mowers. They do the best they can with what they have.

A beautifully maintained memorial park, with a visible presence of people about, working, walking, weeding, planting,etc. is a great deterent to vandals and those using the cemetery for nefarious purposes. Recently, a complaining neighbor has compelled the police to lock the gates after twilight. That is probably in the end a good thing.

I have wandered around many local cemeteries and those which have deteriorated and have become neglected and overgrown are hotbeds for drug dealers, vandals, gangs, and other undesirable elements. Oak Grove is happily not in that catagory and hopefully the city will never allow that to happen. What it does take is keeping Oak Grove in the public eye, for it is human nature to forget about what is not right under our noses. Two recent History Underfoot tours were a great success on many fronts with actors from Fall River's Little Theatre taking the part in costume of some of the famous departed. I am thinking about a tour of Borden-related graves (and there are many) which could be held perhaps once a month in the summer and on Halloween when there is great interest in cemeteries, to benefit the cemetery. The first one will take place on May 23rd of this Spring when the forum group gathers at #92.

I have observed what a good "Friends" group can do by visiting Highgate in London on several trips - that group literally brought that amazing burial ground back from overgrown abandonment by offering tours, doing maintenance, selling notecards, planting flowers, and bringing history back to life. It can be done.

Shelley · Post by **Shelley** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 12:58 am

It was a day well-spent today at Oak Grove. The temps were in the low 60's- a record for the books! I spent a few hours recording the names on the Civil War monument given by Col. Richard Borden, and visiting a few graves.There is a slide show of the Civil War memorial at the Oak Grove blog link below to view. I stopped by the Borden plot and noticed someone had left a Christmas basket of greenery on the marker stone and silk flowers on Lizzie and Emma. How sad Andrew and Abby rarely receive any tributes.

The Almy plot

Friends of Oak Grove is steaming right along!

Spring plans include refurbishing the 4 main flower beds and making a start on getting all of the street signs done and in place. Vandals had destroyed these signs over the years and it is nearly impossible for people to follow the map. If you are local or live not too far away, and want to be included in the Friends of Oak Grove activities and quarterly newsletter, drop me a PM. I have notecards and a calendar in the works among other fundraisers for 2008.

This was the final view leaving the cemetery- we had a glorious sunset! This is the southeast end of town, taken from the Stafford mill monument, where Josiah Brown, the man who landscaped Oak Grove also reposes.

Shelley · Post by **Shelley** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 1:33 am

The 39 slide presentation for Oak Grove in Winter is up at the Oak Grove link below. These were shot Saturday, February 23rd. To minimize the Youtube box so the entire photo is viewable, just click on the little X in the corner of the You Tube box. Someone asked what song is being heard- it is Don't Stand at My Grave and Weep. I just discovered this lovely boys' choir made up of boys from the mean streets of England called Libera. They sound like angels.

I was happy to meet some of the Friends of Oak Grove yesterday when Jeff and I stopped by the New Boston Bakery. The owner's son and daughter are both active with the group and grew up in the shadow of Oak Grove all their lives.

Shelley · Post by **Shelley** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 12:17 pm

Things are moving full speed ahead for the Friends group. Citizens Union Bank has lent local support and has sponsored a tree as well as the Waring-Sullivan funeral home offering memorial plantings. There should be a feature article this weekend in the FR Herald on the group. Mike Keane, an architect who lives near the Oak Grove cemetery did the interview. Mike will be the point person for the group and is very enthusiastic. A tree survey has been done last month and will be translated to a computer tracking program to monitor the plantings on the grounds. Good stuff!

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 3:59 pm

Someone commented to me lately that they don't see pictures of flowers at Abbie and Andrew's stones, the victims. Do people tend to only decorate Lizzie and Emma?

SteveS. · Post by **SteveS.** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 7:20 pm

Hats off to you Shelley for getting the Friends of Oak Grove group going. I have some friends buried there and I also enjoyed just walking the grounds reading the headstones and matching them to Fall River's history. If I was back in the area I would be begging you to let me join the group. Kuddos!

Shelley · Post by **Shelley** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 7:41 pm

Yes, sadly I have not seen flowers for Abby and Andrew since whoever did the memorial day plantings back in the 90's stopped planting the ageratum, alyssum and geraniums. I would like to do something as soon as the weather improves in May.

Steve, ANYBODY can be a Friend of Oak Grove. I live in CT! The website has a brochure to download- and you can be a tree or plant donor or a regular member. I am just about ready to upload the blog to a website and we will have an online newletter quarterly too. I am working on some fundraisers- calendars, Oak Grove photography exhibits and lectures, etc. Enthusiasm is contagious

-you can never take FR out of the boy even if the boy is out of FR!

Shelley · Post by **Shelley** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 5:15 pm

The article on the group was in the Herald today http://www.heraldnews.com/town_info/history/x1565510740

For those of you who have emailed to ask- yes, this is the same group I started in November. I heard from this city architect named Mike Keane in January who said he was trying to get up a group last year but they had had little success and nobody was hitting his Yahoo web page. He had seen my Oak Grove blog and found my email there. I had never heard of his group, nor were they ever mentioned to me by Tom Eaton, the cemetery superintendent. I met with him at the house on Second Street in February and set out some ideas for the group and volunteered to give them my web blog and stay on to run it. It seemed silly to have two Oak Grove groups. The important thing is, I guess, in the end, is that it is now succeeding, regardless of who has now taken it over. I will stay on as webmaster and plan to still manage the garden plantings and photography for the site and fundraisers. And I want to acknowledge the great support I have had from the Find A Grave folks who have kept the blog high in the Google search and friends here on the forum who visit the site. For those not into websites and blogging, it is possible to see where the daily "hits" come from. So just by dropping by the Oak Grove link, it helps support the cause by keeping the projects in the public eye and high on visibility blog searches. Thanks!

SteveS. · Post by **SteveS.** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 7:41 pm

I was just reading the Fall River Herald online and came across the article of a group in Westport doing the same good work that Shelley and her group is doing for Oak Grove Cemetary. They are mapping out and cleaning up historical private cemetaries in Westport. They now have each one marked and placed on the historical register. They have listed the names and dates of everyone buried in these cemetaries. Who knows what Borden links may be found there. Hooray for them!!! There is a cemetary for the brownells. This is the website westport.loreprojects.com

Shelley · Post by **Shelley** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 10:35 pm

Thanks for the link Steve. Beech Grove, where Alice Russell is buried is not in such bad shape- but other smaller cemeteries nearby are- the small family type. I do photo requests for Find a Grave website and forum and I had to go to a Mystic graveyard this week which was hearbreaking to see. It has not been tended in decades, the inscriptions are all but illegible, many broken stones, weeds, thorns- and these are some of the town's founders, old sea captains- I took photos of all and wrote down what I could. Some boy scouts are making cemetery clean up a project for civic merit badges. Sadly, it is too late for some of the oldest graveyards and monuments which have deteriorated beyond help.