Old St. Peter's Cemetery Danbury, Connecticut Irish Tombstone Transcription Project

After I did the St. Rose Cemetery Irish Tombstone Transcription project I learned there were similar stones in Old St. Peter's Cemetery in Danbury. This time Harlan Jessup and my hubby accompanied me to help find these elusive stones. 

After this project was completed and and article published in Connecticut Ancestry, Harlan suggested to that group that the rest of Fairfield County, CT cemeteries be done for Irish tombstones - and it was. 

I have some original databases for both St. Rose and Old St. Peter's Cemetery from the project. If anyone has a question about a burial in either of these two cemeteries, send me a note and I will see if I have the information in my files.

Irish Tombstones in St. Rose Cemetery Newtown, Connecticut

In 2005 I was persuaded by Newtown's professional genealogist, Harlan Jessup, to develop a database of the Irish tombstones located in the St. Rose Cemetery located in Sandy Hook, CT. Specifically he wanted only the stones that recorded native parish and county of origin. When finished, I wrote an article about the database that appeared in Connecticut Ancestry. From there I went on to do the same for Old St. Peter's Cemetery in Danbury, Connecticut. My Irish tombstone database was also placed on the Genealogy Club of Newtown's website.

Unfortunately, Ancestry has decided to abandon the hundreds (if not thousands) of small genealogy clubs and historical societies by taking down the free Rootsweb website where the Genealogy Club of Newtown's site was hosted.

I've decided to post some of the material I did for the club's website here on my blog. Already there is the 1890 Census Substitute for Newtown, CT on this site. To find those blog posts, scroll down to the list of tags and they will be at the top. My husband and I consulted a number of sources to compile this 1890 Census Substitute with the hope that it would help those searching ancestors in this difficult time period when the Federal Census is not available.

 

Although we have moved from Newtown, I still monitor the Random Acts emails. So if anyone has a question about Newtown ancestors, use the email in the above article.

Tombstone Tuesday - Irish Tombstone Transcription

Our library’s professional genealogist is adept at suggesting interesting genealogy research projects.  A couple of years ago he mentioned that some of the Irish tombstones in the Old St. Rose Cemetery contained place of origin.  He thought it would be great to capture this information, publish it in Connecticut Ancestry, and post it on the Genealogy Club of Newtown’s website.  I took the bait.

With no experience at tombstone transcription or plan I walked the cemetery looking for stones that had county and/or parish information included.  I found some women’s stones listed maiden names.  I quickly realized these stones were a veritable gold mine for those researching their Irish ancestors. 

Peter Cavanaugh

The above stone belongs to Peter Cavanaugh who died 22 Nov 1862 at the age of 34. The back of the stone states he was a native of “Ballanabrackee” Kings County, Ireland.

This project led to a transcription of all Irish tombstones in Fairfield County, CT that include “native of” information.  Those transcriptions have all been published in Connecticut Ancestry.

I loved walking the cemetery and getting to know these long ago souls, and I learned some valuable lessons. 

·      Always respect the cemetery and the stones; get permission from the church and/or cemetery association when necessary or if in doubt.

·      Have a plan; plot out the cemetery so you can easily find the stones again.

·      Safety first - carry a cell phone; work in pairs.

·      Carry water and a soft vegetable brush to clean the stones.

·      Never use harsh detergents, bleach or wire scrub brushes.

·      If stones are down, carefully cut the grass around them with an edging tool.

·      Carefully brush the grass from the stone, squirt water, and gently brush.

·      Carry a mirror to help see the inscriptions; time of day and lighting are important.

·      Visit www.ctgravestones.com for further step-by-step instructions.

·      And most of all enjoy this exhilarating experience.