A few years ago while researching my great grandmother Arabella Mitchell, I discovered that she and her first husband Isaac Gaetz Greenough had a daughter while they were living in Chelsea, Massachusetts.
According to the birth registrations for the City of Chelsea, this baby girl was born on September 29th, 1893. No first name was given to the child at the time of the birth registration. However, I eventually learned that her name was Helen. According to the book Eastern Shore Families: Genealogical Notes on Petpeswick by Kim Stevens, her middle name was Gertrude, but I can’t find any documentation confirming this.
There is a photograph of an unidentified baby in my great grandmother’s photo album. The photo was taken in Boston (across the Mystic River from Chelsea). It makes me wonder. Is this a picture of Helen Greenough?
I did know that Helen Greenough died as a child. That was pretty much all I knew, though. There is a passing reference to her in my great grandmother’s obituary but nothing in way of any details. Unfortunately, there is a thirty year gap in death registrations for the Province of Nova Scotia from 1878 to 1907. So, you often need to rely on obituaries or grave markers for information during this period. No obituary exists as far I can tell, but my late mother told me that she was “pretty sure” that she was buried at the Riverside Cemetery in Musquodoboit Harbour beside her father.
Recently, the good folks at Eastern Shore Archives sent me a photograph of Helen’s grave marker at the Riverside Cemetery. I always find it heartbreaking seeing the grave marker of a child. My mind travels back in time imagining what the circumstances were surrounding their untimely death. According to her grave marker, Helen Greenough died on May 16, 1900. The inscription reads, “Helen Greenough. Died May 16, 1900. Aged 6 years 8 months. Budded on Earth to Bloom in Heaven.”
Additonal Links:
Find A Grave Memorial for Helen Greenough
Wikitree Profile for Helen Greenough
