How close is close?

In the last post, we summarized several queries concerning the current state of Thomas (The remains of Thomas). What does state mean? Well, the norm would be for the remains to be in the ground under the stone. If they are not, usually there is some explanation.

The following is the start of some sleuthing that is needed to establish the 'state' of many others, not just Thomas Gardner (planter).

Modern (left), earlier (right)
Where is Thomas? III

1. In his earlier book, Dr. Frank (1907) wrote that court records indicated that Gardner Hill was around Main and Grove in Salem (lower red line, image). That means, too, the old burial ground. In other places, I have seen arguments that Harmony Grove touches where the Gardner plot was. Well, we will see. One opinion talked about a few yards of movement from the old plot to the corner where stones were thrown. Well, how few might few be? Of note, we have to consider the North River.

Then, Dr. Frank (1933) wrote that Samuel Pickering Gardner, ancestor of the John Lowell Gardners, had visited the place (1830s?) and noted that Samuel had written his observations which Dr. Frank got to read. The place was being used for tanning operations which caused some stones to have already been thrown aside, including that of Thomas, the planter. In this image, I rotated the old and the new views to almost agree. The markings map to a few landmarks. Notice that this has the hill on the other side of the river from Harmony Grove Cemetery. That is, looking up river, to the left. So, we do have to consider the river. Too, we have to look at Trask's property and burial site as it is germane to the topics to discuss.

Perley's view
Nutfield Genealogy

2. So, I have been poking around. We can start with Perley's map that shows Salem in 1700 based upon Sidney's study of the documents (Sidney Perley 1858-1928). Also, we are talking about Frank A. Gardner, MD (1861-1938). So, these two are cohorts. When Sidney got ill, Lucie, Dr. Frank's sister, picked up his work (Lucie following Sidney). Lucie and Dr. Frank published a whole lot of material in this regard in The Massachusetts Magazine.

The image comes from the Nutfield Genealogy post on Trask (see prior paragraph for link). Notice that Gardner's Hill is next to the Trask cemetery. That is, on the same side of the river. Note, too, the bulging of the river at that point.

3. Now, if we jump ahead to a view that is later, we can see Harmony Grove on the other side of the river which has been reconfigured. If you follow the history of the river, it has been encroached upon, and polluted, to support industry. And, tanning of leather for shoes turned out to be a huge deal (for a while). Samuel, above, saw the beginning of this. In the below image, I put a red circle about where Trask's (South) burying place was. Notice the difference in the shape of the river?

Trask, now and then

All of this is preliminary to a greater study that we will do. What happened to the bones of the 150 or so souls who were buried? It is a subject worth digging into (no pun). And, Gardners have to do this work with help.

4. Finally, let me show what a little sleuthing does. We need to do a lot more. I found a map at a Brit source that was with an article on glass making in the colonies, namely in Salem: Glass blower at Salem. The article is not very old; the map seems to be of the time (however, I do not know its provenance - if it was done in 1985, then that's worse than what Sidney (who was quite thorough) did a hundred years ago).

Salem, 1692? 

There is a lot more to learn. However, we intend to push to get this settled in the sense of the most reasonable answer that we can do given what we can gather as data. There are 150 souls, perhaps, looking from some type of recognition.

We ought to, as well, get a list of the names of those buried at Gardner's Hills.

Remarks: Modified: 05/16/2019

08/16/2018 -- Added a virtual cemetery to findagrave: Gardner's Hill. With this, we can have people put memorials for those who were known to have been buried at Gardner's Hill and, at the same time, reference where they or their stones were moved. MHC Report: some hills approached 200 feet.

08/17/2018 -- Gardner's Hill on findagrave is now Gardner's Hill Burial Ground (Defunct). It points to Harmony Grove Cemetery with a few words. Also, the rule is there will be no memorials connected to this. So, we'll need to figure out another method to have a virtual view of who was buried there. For starters, we can start with a page here on this blog and improve as we go. Gardner's Hill was in the same family through seven generations. It was sold at the eighth generation. We'll be writing more about this. However, it's a gain, as when one looks at cemeteries in Salem, MA, they will see Gardner's Hill.

11/13/2018 -- With a new twist, as bodies and stones were also moved to the Trask site. Add in Sidney Perley's map of Gardner Hill.

01/04/2019 -- This topic will be followed more regularly this year (344th of 29 December 1674). We will initiate a discussion on WikiTree (see link in sidebar) in support of the research.

02/28/2019 -- Gardner's Beacon, Vol. IX, No. 1 gives an overview of what we know after looking at the issue of missing graves. Then, there are more missing graves, we see.

05/16/2019 -- The map that compares Sidney's walk-about with Google is way off. That is because I was looking at landmarks and not paying attention to details, like distance. So, see this update: How close is close ? II. Here is the updated graphics.

Oh yes, we are now honing into the area.