McRaes Buried in Pine Hill Cemetery

Record card listing all the McRaes buried in Pine Hill Cemetery, West Bridgewater, Mass.

*Copy of record card courtesy of Pine Hill Cemetery.

Funeral Card Friday - John A. McRae

On Sunday, November 18, 1951, John Alton McRae passed away at the home of his parents, Walter L. and Laura (Spaulding) McRae, in Brockton. He was the husband of Marjorie T. Moynihan. Funeral services were held on Tuesday, November 20, from the funeral home at 647 Main Street, Brockton. Interment was in Pine Hill Cemetery, West Bridgewater. 

Tuesday, November 20, 1951, Brockton Daily Enterprise - Page Two

Motivation Monday - Follow Up Visits to Pine Hill Cemetery and Brockton

There were two things I planned to do today - visit Pine Hill Cemetery in West Bridgewater and Brockton Public Library, 


I've been wanting to visit Pine Hill Cemetery for the past couple weeks after discovering that there are a few more family members of mine buried there. Once I got there, I spoke with a woman at the cemetery office who gave me the section and plot numbers of the graves I was looking for along with a free map of the cemetery. After this, I was able to find the graves I was looking for quite easily. However, these past few days, Massachusetts has received quite a few inches of snow. And although it didn't snow today, the clouds in the sky combined with the snow left on the ground did make it difficult to get decent pictures. So I need to go back at some point when the sun is out and take new photos. 


One surprising thing that happened while at the cemetery was that I located the grave of John A. McRae. John was the son of Walter L. McRae and Laura Belle Spaulding. I knew John had died before Walter (Walter died in 1966; John is not listed as a survivor in his obituary). I called Pine Hill Cemetery the other week and asked if John happened to be buried there. They checked and told me he wasn't. And that was that.


So today, as the woman was going through the files, she pulled out the card that listed all the McRae's buried in Pine Hill. I glanced at it and noticed Walter's name, Laura's name, and two others. One was a female named Gracie whom I have never heard of. And the other was of a John Alton McRae. Curious, I asked her if John was buried with Walter and Laura. She looked it over and told me he was! So much for him not being buried there. . . 


Following my trip to the cemetery, I went to Brockton Public Library so that I could search through some newspaper articles and look through the Brockton Poll Taxes once more. On my top list of priorities was finding John's obituary (I now had a death date), the obituary of his niece, Cheryl Scibetta, and some "In This City" articles (articles that tell of the activities of Brockton residents). 


But when I got there, I started out looking through the poll taxes and got so wrapped up in them that I didn't have time to find search through the newspapers. 


I have been trying to figure out more about the marriage between my great-grandparents, Fred J. McRae and Maude Monroe, and when my great-grandmother would have been committed. I had a breakthrough today thanks to the poll taxes. 


I found out that in 1923, my great-grandparents, Fred McRae and Maude Monroe, were living at 136 Myrtle Street, Brockton, Massachusetts. But in the 1924 Poll Taxes, Maude disappeared. She was no longer living with Fred and wasn't listed as living with her parents either so I can only guess that some time between 1923 and 1924, she was committed. Maude shows up again in the Poll Taxes for 1940. It lists her living with her parents and half-brother and her occupation is listed as "At Home". It said she had been living with them in 1939 too but she didn't actually appear in the 1939 Poll Taxes. So based on evidence, Maude was released between 1939 and 1940, meaning she was institutionalized for about sixteen years. 


I also discovered that Maude's father, Harvey, was a restaurant proprietor. I'm not sure how long the restaurant lasted but I'm very interested in finding more information about it (such as a name, for starters). 


The other thing I'm interested in finding more about is the death place of my great-great grandfather, James R. McRae. His death certificate (he died in Brockton on March 5, 1910) lists his death place as "City Farm". When I first read it, I simply assumed it meant he owned a farm in the city. But I've heard recently that a city farm was a type of jail for people with debts and such. I want to look more into it and figure out what exactly a city farm was and why James would have been in it.

Sunday's Obituary - Walter L. McRae

On December 10, 1966, Walter L. McRae passed away in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. He was 77. Funeral services were held Monday, December 12, at the Delano Funeral Home in Brockton, Massachusetts at 2 P. M. Interment was in Pine Hill Cemetery, West Bridgewater.

Born on August 17, 1889 in Brockton, Walter was the son of James R. and Bridget T./Theresa (Kane) McRae. He married Laura Belle Spaulding and had two children, Rhoda McRae and John A. McRae (the latter who predeceased him). Walter was a lifelong resident of Brockton.

• Saturday, December 10, 1966 , Brockton Daily Enterprise - Page eleven

• December 10, 1966 , Brockton Daily Enterpise - Page sixteen

Funeral Card Friday - Joan C. Ryerson

On Tuesday, April 6, 1937, the funeral of Joan C. Ryerson was held. Joan had passed away two days earlier as a result of pneumonia. She was just a little more than a year old. 

The location listed in the funeral notice for interment is a typo. Joan was buried in Pine Hill Cemetery. West Bridgewater doesn't have a Pine Grove Cemetery. 

Wednesday, April 7, 1937 , Brockton Daily Enterprise - Page Two

Tombstone Tuesday - Henry & Lucile Anderson

Pine Hill Cemetery is the eternal resting place for many of my ancestors. Among them are Henry G. R. & Lucile (Garfield) Anderson, my great-great grandparents. 

Born in Easton, Massachusetts, Henry Gustav Robert was the son of the late August Robert and Hedvig Olivia (Eden) Anderson. August and Hedvig were natives of Sweden, making Henry the first generation of Anderson's to be born in America. Henry went on to marry Lucile Rebecca Garfield, a friend of the family. 

Lucile was the daughter of the late Edward Alton and Mary Louise (Antoine) Garfield. She was born on July 1, 1916 in Medford, Massachusetts. 

Henry and Lucile married on October 16, 1936 at the home of Henry's sister, Lillian Johnson. They moved to Brockton, Mass went on to have three children together, Frederic Robert, David Warren, and a third known as Baby Anderson. Baby Anderson was born prematurely in 1943 and only lived for two minutes. 

Lucile passed away on July 5, 1953 from stomach cancer. Henry remarried a couple years later to a woman named Barbara DeLoid and they both moved to Wareham, Mass. Barbara passed away in 1979 and Henry passed away a few years later on January 4, 1983. 

2 Sep 2011 , Pine Hill Cemetery, West Bridgewater, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

2 Sep 2011 , Pine Hill Cemetery, West Bridgewater, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

Sunday's Obituary - Laura Belle McRae

On Saturday, December 17, 1983, Laura Belle (Spaulding) McRae passed away at Goddard Memorial Hospital in Stoughton, Massachusetts. She was 86.

A graveside service was held on Tuesday, December 20 at Pine Hill Cemetery, West Bridgewater, Mass.

Born in Whitman, Laura was the daughter of Frank and Emma (Adams) Spaulding. She married Walter L. McRae (my great grandfather's brother) and they had two children, Rhoda and John A. McRae, the latter who predeceased her. Walter passed away in December of 1966, leaving her a widow for seventeen years. 

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Printed on Monday, Dec. 19, 1983 in The Enterprise.

Printed on Monday, Dec. 19, 1983 in The Enterprise.

Tombstone Tuesday - Mary Louise Garfield (1879 - 1957)

Pine Hill Cemetery, West Bridgewater, Massachusetts (2011)

Born in Plattsburgh, New York, Mary Louise Garfield (nee Antoine), my great-great grandmother, was the wife of the late Edward Alton Garfield and mother of the late Henry A. Garfield, Jennie Glover, Mabel Carlson, Edith Clifford, and Lucile Anderson (my great-grandmother). 

Mary was a seamstress. She resided in Brockton, Massachusetts for most of her life.

Her husband, Edward, passed away in 1918 and is buried in West Dennis Cemetery, West Dennis, Massachusetts. Mary was unable to be buried with him because their children could not afford it so they placed her in Pine Hill Cemetery instead. 

Tombstone Tuesday - Mary L. Garfield's Grave

Many of my ancestors are buried in Pine Hill Cemetery, located in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Among them is my great-great grandmother, Mary L. Garfield (née Antoine). Mary was born in Plattsburgh, New York. She married Edward Alton Garfield and they had five children together. Edward died in 1918. 

Mary was a seamstress. She lived in Brockton, Massachusetts for the remainder of her life and passed away in 1957, four years after the death of her youngest child, (my great grandmother) Lucile Anderson.

For some unknown reason, Edward is not buried in Pine Hill Cemetery. Edward's grave can be found in West Dennis Cemetery in West Dennis, Massachusetts.