Copeland Cenotaphs in Maine ~ 52 Ancestors #37

A cenotaph is a cemetery marker placed in honor of a person whose remains are elsewhere.

I have a few ancestors who have what appear to be two burial locations, but it turns out that they are buried in one place and have a cenotaph in another.

My second great-grandmother, Sarah (Lowell) Copeland, was born in Calais, Maine, in 1833, living there until the death of her husband, Henry Clay Copeland in 1912 (in Calais). Soon after, she moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to live with her daughter, Katherine (Copeland) Dunbar and her husband, William Dunbar. When she died on January 9, 1916, her remains were buried in the Copeland-Dunbar plot (Cherry Avenue, Section 6, Lot 49) in Forest Hills Cemetery, in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, a neighborhood of Boston, not too far from Cambridge.

S. L. C.
1833 - 1916

 

However, there is a Copeland plot in Calais Cemetery, Calais, Maine, where Sarah's husband was buried and includes memorials for several Copeland family members whose remains are not buried there. In addition to Sarah, her daughter, Katherine (Copeland) Dunbar, and son-in-law, William Dunbar are buried in Forest Hills and also have a cenotaph in Calais Cemetery. A daughter-in-law, Ruth Lyman (Greeley) Copeland, is buried in Chicago, but is included on the stone in Calais.

In some cases, more information is found on this gravestone than on the stone where they are buried.

HENRY C.
Son of T.J. & Julia E. Copeland
born in Norridgewock Me.
Jan. 7, 1832.
died in Calais Nov. 7, 1912.

SARAH LOWELL His Wife
born in Calais Dec. 30, 1833.
died in Cambridge Mass.
Jan. 9, 1916.
buried in Forest Hills Cemetery
Boston Mass.

I love that this stone specifically tells me where they each were born and that Sarah was buried in Forest Hills Cemetery.

FindAGrave is a one of my most favorite resources. Following are links to the FindAGrave memorials for the relatives mentioned above:

Sarah (Lowell) Copeland in Forest Hills

Katherine (Copeland) Dunbar in Forest Hills

William Dunbar in Forest Hills

Ruth Lyman (Greeley) Copeland in Graceland Cemetery, Chicago

These family members are linked to their respective cenotaphs as well as to their immediate relatives.

 

I descend from Henry Clay Copeland and Sarah (Lowell) Copeland as follows:

Henry Clay Copeland = Sarah Lowell

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Lowell Copeland

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Lowell Townsend Copeland

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My mother

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Me

This week's theme is Tombstone.