Lydia and Abraham Hart gravestones

Banker, Abraham Hart, was one of the last people to see Andrew Borden alive on the morning of August 4th 1892 when Andrew stopped by the bank near City Hall.  Mr. Hart would later tell police that Mr. Borden looked weak and feeble that morning.  The Bordens had been suffering from an unknown illness since Tuesday evening after supper.  Abraham Hart would also be one of the Borden pallbearers on the morning of Saturday, August 6th at the short service at #92 Second Street and procession to Oak Grove Cemetery.

Dr. Michael Kelly, the Borden’s next door neighbor to the south was away on August 4th but Dr. Kelly’s wife, Mary Caroline Cantwell Kelly was the last (but one) to see Andrew Borden alive as he entered his front door moments before his murder.  Mrs. Kelly was expecting a baby at the time and was on her way to the dentist.  Mrs. Kelly’s second child, Mary Philomena married the grandson of Abraham Hart, Bertrand K. Hart.  Both are buried in the Gifford/Hart plot at Oak Grove, directly across the path from the Rev. Augustus Buck, Lizzie’s minister and champion throughout her ordeal.  All are together for eternity in a fascinating entertwining of personalities who had Lizzie Borden in common.

Bertrand and Philomena Kelly Hart

The Rev. Augustus Buck of the Central Congregational Church

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I am finally in the process of doing my family tree. My great grandfather’s name was Nicholas Kessell and I have always known he was a stonecutter in Fall River Mass in the mid to late 1800′s as he past on in 1904 of “stone consumption”. I came across a book “The Fall River Directory of 1882 and notice an ad in there for Kessell and Lawson, a stonecutting company. I can only guess that my great grandfather was in that partnership. My question is, if there is anyway you could find out if he was all involved in the cutting of the Borden tombstone in 1892? I have been intrigued all my life, but now am very curious.
Thank you,
Elaine Kessell
There is never any information about stonecutters.

 Thanks for your email. Sorry to say, the Borden stone was ordered from a Westerly, R.I. carver.  Westerly was a hub for this sort of work and still today has a few remaining carving studios. Buzzi’s is still in business (Ruth Buzzi of Laugh-In fame is in that family) The Borden stone was installed in January of 1894 and is made of Westerly blue granite.  Fall River also had some great carvers and a rosy-colored granite.

Thank you to those of you who have renewed your membership for 2010. If you have not yet done so, please consider supporting us and the projects we continue to work on. You can find a membership application on the City of Fall River’s website:

http://www.fallriverma.org/~fallrive/documents/communitymaintenance/FriendsofOakGroveBrochureJAN09.pdf

We have a couple of projects planned for 2010 that we are very excited about and we expect to announce these within the next month or so. Stay tuned! The following is a brief update on what has transpired within the last few months: Memorial Tree Planting – On April 14th, FOG planted 6 trees with the assistance of FOG members, the Fall River Street Tree Planting Program and the Durfee High School Green Team. We were pleased to have 24 students from DHS participate in the event. Our next planting of 7 trees is scheduled for June 5th . Please consider participating this day as your assistance is welcome. Upon the completion of the June 5th planting, we will have reached a total of 42 new trees in Oak Grove! Pathmarkers – Diman has recently reported that the 10 new pathmarkers have been completed and will be off to the auto shop for painting. More news to follow. Facebook – FOG is now on Facebook. If you are already a member, please head on over to our page and consider becoming a “fan”. You will notice some photos have been posted of several FOG events. Facebook is a social networking site and a powerful tool which has helped to promote our group. If you know of someone who is on Facebook, please encourage them to become a fan as well. We currently have 80 fans and counting. Thank you all for your continued support!

Our appreciation is extended to the following: Ms. Nancy Fell The Fall River Garden Club Little Theatre of Fall River The Fall River Historical Society Healthy City Fall River Ms. Sheila Mitchell Briggs Mrs. Gale Powers Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Gauvin Citizens-Union Savings Bank Ms. Betty Welch Ms. Cora Grant Ms. Lois Wilding THANK YOU TO ALL!

History Underfoot III Tour The History Underfoot III Tour was a great success. The Fall River Garden Club, Fall River Historical Society and The Little Theatre of Fall River, Inc. did a wonderful job planning, organizing and executing the events of the day. We thank the organizers for inviting us to participate and to everyone who stopped by our booth to talk, donate and purchase calendars!

 Healthy City Fall River FOG has applied for, and received, a $500 grant through HCFR for tree planting in the spring of 2010. We appreciate the continued support from HCFR and all the excellent work David Weed and his staff does throughout the year. Please take a moment to view the following link: http://www.gfrpartners.com/09OakGroveHistoryWalk.html

October 28 Artists and Fall River Natives Jim Charette and Mark Delisle present Boneyard, a series of paintings, prints, photography, music, video and more inspired by Oak Grove Cemetery. The gallery opening will be from 6-9PM on Wednesday, 10/28 at the Cherry & Webb Gallery, 139 South Main Street. Jim and Mark grew up on opposite ends of Oak Grove and attribute the formation of their life-long friendship to their old “stomping grounds”. As such, this cemetery holds a special meaning to both Jim and Mark.  Both artists have generously agreed to donate a portion of the profits from the sale of their artwork to the Friends of Oak Grove. Please mark your calendar and consider attending this event and support these two local artists.

November 17 The Fall River Garden Club will host Invaders In Our Midst, an educational program on the damaging effects the Asian Longhorned Beetle has had on trees. Event will take place on November 17 at 9:30AM at the Union United Methodist Church, 600 Highland Avenue. A presentation will be made by Jennifer Forman-Orth, State Survey Coordinator with the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources. The event is free and open to the public.

These high quality, full-color calendars are spiral bound and printed on heavy cardstock

Our calendars feature photographic contributions by Mary Beth Rigby and William Moniz as well as historic images donated from private collections

Layout by Ann Keane

Additionally, the birth dates of notable historical figures are observed throughout

Limited quantities of our calendars are available for $15 and make a wonderful holiday gift

Shipping is an additional $1 per calendar.  Those in the Fall River area may arrange for pickup.  Please call or email to reserve your copy or to arrange for pickup

Payment may be mailed to:

The friends of oak grove cemetery

96 colfax street

Fall river, MA 02720

Ph: 508-642-9636

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090917/PUB03/909170374 

October 4

History Underfoot III Tour – The Fall River Garden Club, Fall River Historical Society and The Little Theatre of Fall River, Inc. will be hosting their 3rd tour of this historic cemetery, sponsored in part by Citizens-Union Savings Bank.  The group has graciously agreed to donate a portion of their profits toward the purchase of a Memorial Tree.  F.O.G .has been invited to provide an informational table on our group and the work we are doing to restore Oak Grove. Past tours have been a tremendous success and we hope that you will plan to attend.  Tour will be conducted from 11 – 3:30 and tickets for the fundraiser are $15.  Rain date is October 11.   

October 8

The Friends of the Fall River Library, in conjunction with the Fall River Street Tree Planting Program, will be screening the film The American Elm: Majestic, Imperiled, Renewed from 7:00 – 8:30PM at the Main Library.  FOG Board Member Mary Ann Wordell will provide a brief introduction.  Light refreshments will be served.

October 28

Artists and Fall River Natives Jim Charette and Mark Delisle present Boneyard, a series of paintings, prints, photography, music, video and more inspired by Oak Grove Cemetery.  The gallery opening will be from 6-9PM at the Cherry & Webb Gallery, 139 South Main Street.  Jim and Mark grew up on opposite ends of Oak Grove and attribute the formation of their life-long friendship to their old “stomping grounds”.  As such, this cemetery holds a special meaning to both Jim and Mark.  Jim and I have been discussing this event for well over a year now and both artists have generously agreed to donate a portion of the profits from the sale of their artwork to the Friends of Oak Grove.  Please mark your calendar and consider attending this event and support these two local artists.

This summer, the city of Fall River is running a series of 45 minute trolley tours scheduled to highlight significant points of interest within the city.  Among the destinations along the tour is Oak Grove Cemetery.  Tour guides will provide visitors with a narrative of the cemetery’s historical importance and will recognize the impact FOG’s work is having on the cemetery.  Tours are free and open to the public and we encourage you to attend.  Although FOG played a small role in assisting the city in preparing the grant used to fund this project, there was considerable effort spent by the city and other volunteers in applying for this competitive grant.  You can find more details at the following link:

http://www.fallriverma.org/pressarticles.asp?ID=321

• Fall River Street Tree Planting Program: 

      On Tuesday July 28^th at 7PM in the 1^st floor meeting room of the FR Library (Main Branch), the FRSTPP will be hosting a session on Tree Disease and Insects.  FRSTPP has provided considerable support with our tree planting efforts.  Hope to see you there!

• People, Inc.: Although we have had considerable rain of late, People, Inc. has provided us with a much needed service.  Specifically, watering and caring for the 30 trees which FOG has planted over the past year.  Our thanks to Bill Perkins and the fine folks at People, Inc.!

• Fall River Spirit: We’d like to once again extend our appreciation to reporter Bill Moniz for his efforts in getting our work recognized and for covering our May tree planting.

• Healthy City Fall River:  David Weed, coordinator of HCFR, has developed another web page spotlighting our recent tree planting.  Here is a link to the page:  http://www.gfrpartners.com/09OakGroveTreePlanting.html

A Maiden’s Garland still hanging in a church in England

Arborist David Brodeur speaks while FOG members and tree stewards plant an October Glory Red Maple

A big “THANK-YOU” to all Friends of Oak Grove who came out to assist us with our latest planting of 10 new trees on May 9^th.  A special thank-you to Dave Jennings, Matt Keane, Mike LePage and Steve Medeiros for helping to move a number of trees to the cemetery. Here are are some photos taken during our recent planting.  Hope you enjoy!Stay tuned for updates on several other ongoing projects including our path markers which are nearing completion.

Paul and Rhoda Lindo work on the installation of a new Pink Horse chestnut

Kwanzaan Cherry in bloom