T Stands for the Dropped Dead Murphys Tour - Part 2

Himself had corresponded with the City Clerk. She had told him the office would be closed around 11 AM until 1 PM for lunch so he decided that should be our first stop of the day. 

Tile floor in city hall

What were these weights on the first floor?

They were the weights and counter balances to a very cool clock on the second floor

I hope you can embiggen the image above to read about the clock restoration.

Himself talking to the city clerk. He was  hoping to find birth certificates. The clerk told him there was nothing on record because there had been a fire and records before were lost. She suggested her contact one of the churches or to check the Maine archives.

After city hall, we stopped for brunch at Governor's Restaurant

We all ordered the Monte Cristo (ham and cheese between slices of thick French toast). Most Montes I've had are served with raspberry jam. Governor's serves theirs with maple syrup. The sandwich came with a side of home fries, and I had a cup of tea.

The Tin Man take a book and leave a book posed for pictures with his friend, the Trash Can.

Mount Hope Cemetery was very large and it seemed everyone was named Murphy. These Murphys did not belong to Himself

 The rushing waters of the Androscoggin River helped to break the silence of the cemetery. If there is land erosion, Mary, here, could end up in the river.

The sections Himself's grandfathers were buried in were G and H. On the way in we passed a marker for section E, but no other markers were visible. I told Himself that the headstones in this area were relatively new, from the 1940s and 1950s. Himself's grandfathers passed in the early 1900s.

Driving around the cemetery, we passed a woman filling up a watering can at one of the water spigots. I suggested Himself stop the car so I could ask her if she knew the layout of the cemetery or if there was someone in the office who could help us. I asked her about the cemetery sections and she laughed. As if putting up markers was a very funny idea. She did point to a section with a large hill on the far side of the cemetery and said that was the older section. I thanked her.

Himself had a picture he had found from FindAGrave.com. The headstone for his great-great grandfather was large. 

In visiting cemeteries, at least in Massachusetts, most of the Irish families had modest headstones. Large monuments were reserved for prominent people or Italians. The Irish must have done well in this area of Maine. A lot of the monuments were very large and not just marking a family plot.

I wandered up the steep hill, did a bit of searching, but had no luck. I did find this interesting headstone for a priest, Father O'Connell. The urn is a common funeral symbol, but I don't recall ever seeing it with a drape. What really attracted me to this stone, was the split in the stone. Like the good Father is trying to break out. Remember last week, I mentioned we were in Stephen King country? 😉 Stephen King writes mostly horror novels.

When I got to the bottom of the hill, Himself pointed to a large monument on the opposite side of the road. What about that one?

I gave him a thumb's up to let him know this was the grave. 

"That was lucky," he said.

"No. They were calling to you."

The photo of the stone Himself had seen wasn't very good and it looked like great-great-Grandpa had two wives at the same time!

As it turned out, gr-gr-grandpa's first wife died and he remarried. Too bad, two wives at the same time would have made a much more interesting story.

The stone marked a large family plot. I think Himself said gr-gr-grandpa had several children with his first wife and 15 children with his second wife. Sadly, these children didn't survive their childhood.

Opposite gr-gr-grandpa's grave were more Murphy graves. This was great-grandpa's grave.

While Himself visited, I wandered around a bit. I was quite touched with this family plot. In all the cemeteries I have visited no matter what day or time of day, there are very few flowers or plantings on the older graves. Someone was visiting here.

Near his great-grandfather's stone, was this headstone. Himself thought this might also be a relation. Both of these men died on the same day.  Back at the hotel, Himself did a little more research. 

He remembered a story that two brothers had been on the railroad tracks. One of them got stuck and the other tried to help, but both were killed by a train. Tragic, but not true.

Himself found an obituary and the real story is just as tragic. James with the large monument owned the mortuary works. His brother, great-grandfather was a stone cutter and James had persuaded his brother to work for him. Great-grandfather contracted silicosis from breathing in all the stone dust and died. No OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) to oversee safety equipment. When great-grandpa's brother heard the news his brother had passed away, he was so distraught and guilty for talking his brother to go to work for him. It's not clear whether he intentionally walked on the railroad tracks or wandered there, but he was hit my a train and died a few hours after his brother had passed away.

We had pizza delivered for dinner. After all the research and roaming around in the cemetery, we had Maine's state dessert Whoopie Pie to end the day.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.