CHAPTER XI. THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITY, NEARBY AND BEYOND
[17] Page 53
South Pond Cemetery
Some names on gravestones to be seen there, on the land donated by the Wright Family, going back to the beginning of the nineteenth century.
28 Indian Graves
William Burgess, 1767-1836 Mary Burgess, 1763-1843
John Burgess, 1765-1860 Anna Tribble Burgess, 1765-1805 Ruth Sprague Burgess, 1766-1846
Phineas Burgess, 1807-1890 Charlotte Burgess, 1812-1903
Jabez Burgess, 1796-1819 (died at sea)
Seth Burgess, 1830-1907 Sarah Burgess, 1831-1903
Jennie Burgess, 1879-1971 (daughter of Isaac)
Seth Bennett, 1811-1900
Sylvanus Sampson, 1748-1799 Sylvanus Sampson, 1749-1824 Sylvanus Sampson, 1780-1874 Sylvanus Sampson, 1857-1929
Belcher Manter, 1736-1825 Belcher Manter, 1776-1857 Sarah Wright Manter, 1781-1866
George Manter, 1798-1857
Vinal Burgess, 1796-1865 Esther Clark Burgess, 1801-1873
William Burgess 1762-1836 Lucy Burgess, 1763-1843
Charlotte T. Burgess, 1848-1876
Isaac Burgess, 1835-1924
Truman Sampson, 1802-1884
Levi Sampson, 1822-1891
Joseph Wright, 1721-1804 Capt. Joshua Wright, 1758-1833
Joseph Wright, 1787-1867 Lucy Wright, 1788-1872
[18] Page 55--An earlier effort in 1701 for assistance to alewives is found in the Town Records, Vol. 2, Page 79. The petitioners mentioned possibly did not live too far away and some may have had homesteads in the community.
“Grant to make a stream for herring from South Pond to Eel River.”
Town meeting of May 20th, 1701.
“George Morton, Ephraim Morton, Nathaniel Morton, Josiah Finney, Benj. Warren, Ebenezer Holmes and Thomas Faunce requested that if they could make a stream from the Grate South Pond so called into the brook that runneth through Finney’s meadow into the Eale River in order to the leting up alewives into sd. Pond that the town would grant the privilege of two or three pole breadth on each side of sd. stream of land down along sd. stream so far as the town comons goeth which sd. request was granted them and to stop the Pond when it needs.”
[19] Page 57--_Plymouth Memories of an Octogenarian_, p. 60.
[20] Page 58--_Ibid._, p. 49.
[21] Page 59--_Ibid._, p. 86.
[22] Page 59--_Ibid._, p. 74.
[23] Page 59--_Ibid._, p. 65.
[24] Page 60--_Ibid._, p. 74.
[25] Page 60--_Ibid._, p. 438.
[26] Page 61--_Ibid._, p. 158.
[27] Page 61--_Ibid._, p. 188.
[28] Page 61--_Ibid._, p. 468.
[29] Page 62--_Ibid._, p. 427.
[30] Page 62--_Ibid._, p. 128.
[31] Page 62--_Ibid._, p. 130.
[32] Page 63--_Ibid._, p. 241.
[33] Page 64--_Ibid._, p. 332.
[34] Page 64--_Ibid._, p. 247.
[35] Page 66--_Ibid._, p. 430.
_MEMORIES OF THE BOOT POND PLACE_
[36] This book, written by Susan H. Burgess, is in the form of a story for children as a memoir of her own girlhood days at her grandparents’ farm. It was given to her niece, Frances Burgess O’Keeffe, and is so inscribed by the author. It may have been written in the 1920’s and covers a time presumably in the 1880’s. She was 12 years old by 1890. During the 1880’s her grandparents would be in their seventies.
Totaling 33 pages, it has 11 water color illustrations, 5-1/2” × 7” in size, each on a page of its own. It is hand printed in black ink in script writing. The author has made the plain cover and has hand sewn and bound the pages. They measure 12” × 9-1/2”.
The eight children mentioned were born over a period of 17 years, from 1868 to 1885, making a group of three boys and five girls. The 1880’s would be a good time in the ages of the children to enjoy their grandparents’ farm at Boot Pond.
Against the usual Plymouth custom of referring to bodies of fresh water as “ponds,” Susan Burgess refers to them as “lakes.”
An obvious contrast in the 100 years since then has been the growth of trees, not only in the open fields, but close to the house and barn. This fact was quite apparent to Miss Minnie Burgess and she emphasized it to me on a recent visit. She has known the Place for most of her 94 years. There are now three large white pines, many large fir trees, several deciduous trees, such as maples, beech, tamarack, catalpa and mulberry which have grown up in the intervening years since the watercolors were made. Then there were more open fields, pasture and orchard as well as a fence near the pond for keeping the cattle in bounds.
The Water Colors
1. THE CROOKED ROAD
This was on the curve downhill before the house could be seen.
2. THE FIRST GLIMPSE OF THE HOUSE
This is about 300 feet from the front of the house, showing an open field on the left and Boot Pond beyond.
3. UNTITLED
Shows a horse and covered buggy tied to a hitching post by the fence in front of the house.
4. UNTITLED
Grandma Charlotte sitting by the dining room fireplace and a glimpse through the door into the sitting room beyond.
5. OH WHAT A PLACE TO PLAY
Two little girls playing with costumes in the north end of the well-stocked attic.
6. UNTITLED
A boy and two girls and a head of a pig behind the pig pen fence running north from the house and showing the steps up into the barn.
7. UNTITLED
The interior of the barn from the front door, with a cow and horse.
8. UNTITLED
Shows the lower part of the field, the big oak tree and the Pond.
9. UNTITLED
A little blond girl on the swing under the big oak at pond edge.
10. LEARNING TO ROW WITH THE ANCHOR OUT WAS SAFEST
The sandy shore of the curving beach with three children. One is in the boat in the water with the anchor in the dry sand.
11. UNTITLED
In the rain are two children in a row boat near the pond shore.