Folks,
Somewhere in a posting or an email, I wrote that Arcadia Publishing's books contain many old photos that supplement text on a historical subject. I commented that new photos of old "Tatnuck" stones might attract their interest, but that it would be difficult to tract them down. There were about 80 stones still standing in Tatnuck in 1876, according to Richard O'Flynn's transcriptions. Some of them now stand (or lay) at St. John's, others may have been moved to other cemeteries. In fact, some have found their way to St. Bridget's Cemetery in Millbury. Today I looked a one? some? (It was an unplanned, cold visit, so I did not take notes.) Position and age of the monuments indicate there are several that were at Tatnuck. An epitaphs confirm at least one was.
I have entered an active phase of this hobby (longer days? up-comming St. Pat's day?) and I will be looking at other cemeteries in the future. I would love to see this search become a group effort. Interested people could investigate a particular Catholic cemetery that was around in 1907, find out if records exist on the placement of stones, learn if there was an initial sale of plots at the establishment of the cemetery, look for the old stones (They might be paired with an other on one plot, or oddly placed between rows, or bear an epitaph that notes a date of death that pre-dates the establishment of the cemetery.) take notes and even the photos. Photos and other work would be credited to the individuals that contribute. The exact form the end product will take is not assured. Book publishing costs money, and there is little intrest in this subject, but if nothing else a work book could be created, or a webpage... whatever.
I am also looking to create a poster with the known Tatnuck monuments pictured, again not of wide interest, but a much more manageable project. That is to say, I can handle that much work (if I don't try to be all-inclusive), a larger project would require other "volunteers."
If you can only help by posting the name and est. date of the Catholic Cemetery in your little part of Worc. County that would be a start. Post any "replies" to this post for now, if this thing grows we can start a new subject Tatnuck Cemetery Project, or some such thing.
I don't have any ancestors involved in the move, but the 100th anniversary of the removal of 2000 of the area's early Catholic settlers is next year, and I would like to see something ready by then. Then I can put this subject away for awhile, take-on another task.
John