Streets of Salem

This is a blog that has very interesting posts as Donna, the blogger, does walk-abouts as did our friend, Sidney Perley. I have commented a couple of times of late: Massey's Cove and Tale of Benjamin West, the Patriot. The first post came about by seeing the Cove on one of Sidney's maps. Conant and crew spent their first winter in that location (1626). The second post related to a veteran of Bunker Hill who was overlooked. Turns out that Benjamin West was the only casualty from Salem.

Of late, there was this post: Cemetery under Siege. Of course, that called for bringing some attention to the experience of Gardner's burial plot. We covered that in several posts, with the first one from 2010; this deals with the question: Where is Thomas?

This is the text of the comment (unaltered).

It isn’t as if a cemetery or two has not already been destroyed in little Essex County of Massachusetts. At last count, there were over 200 graves that would need attention.

Start to read about it here: https://thomasgardnerofsalem.blogspot.com/2019/02/another-twist.html. I point to a report by a Trask researcher about Lynn’s movement of stones, leaving the remains. But, have, since, found other references to this sort of thing.

Before discovering that little jewel of news about disappear cemeteries, and after much reading and talking to people, it became evident to me that we had this very thing in Salem. In short, the Gardner burial plot, which was near the current Trask one, was disturbed. It was violated in the interest of commerce which is not unlike now with the witch mania (every fall). At first, this news was troublesome, I took a long while before accepting the fact. But, I heard from people about missing bodies. Also, I went deeper into Sidney’s (need I mention his last name, Perley’s) work. Later I saw that he mentioned that some bodies had been moved to the Trask plot. https://thomasgardnerofsalem.blogspot.com/2018/10/new-twist.html

Lots of research pending.

Some graves had already been destroyed in the Gardner plot when Simon Pickering Gardner visited the site in the 1830s (stones thrown about). I have tracked down who sold the land, etc. This is a story waiting to be told. The property had been in the Gardner family since Thomas’ time.

But, about October’s cah’ching of the registers due to visitors and tramplers of graves. Right near where the Gardner plot had been (according to Sidney, again), we now have the Holy Ghost Center. To me, how appropriate it would be for Salem to mark that area and direct some attention that way. Say, before getting in revelries, consider that some of this stuff is real.

Some have argued this, well, Harmony Grove is where this site was. These two (HGC and Gardner’s plot) were on different sides of the brook/river (Gardner/Proctor/North, what have you) that disappeared, evidently filled in with the bones of our ancestors.

Much to discuss, especially given the 400th that is pending.

I wrote 'Simon' rather than 'Samuel' for the 1830s visitor. But added in a correcting comment. Again, we're putting together the next issue of The Gardner Annals. Contributions of articles is encouraged.

Remarks: Modified: 08/15/2019

08/15/2019 --