The search for a gravestone - Edward A. Hanson & Sarah J. Randall

I’ve been delving into my Hanson line again lately after several months of putting it on the back burner due to a brick wall I’ve run into regarding my 5th great grandfather Andrew Hanson. As I’ve started to look at the information again, I’ve been reminded of a discovery made a number of years ago regarding my 2nd great grandparents Edward Hanson & Sarah J. Randall which always puts a smile on my face.

In 2008 I decided to take a genealogical road trip to Pine Grove Cemetery in Lynn, Massachusetts to locate the grave of Edward & Sarah. For those who have never been to Pine Grove, I cannot recommend a visit enough. Not only is it a large, old cemetery, but it also has the most beautiful trees lining its roadways and paths. While there, I became accustomed to seeing people strolling throughout the cemetery recreating and just enjoying the lovely landscape.

I quickly located Barberry Path where Edward & Sarah along with their daughter Harriett Kenyon are buried. The burial information I had received from the cemetery said their grave was at 23 Barberry Path so I slowly started walking down the path looking for their names on headstones

Before I knew it I was clearly at the end of the path and had not seen the headstone. So, I walked back to my starting point, thinking I may have missed it. No dice. I must have walked the entire path back and forth at least six times. What was further throwing me off was I didn’t see any clear open spaces that would signify a missing stone. The only space in between stones was a large shrub, however as it was right next to another stone I initially didn’t think much of it.

Finally after walking by the shrub several more times and not being able to locate the stone, I decided to peer into the shrub as a last ditch effort before calling off my search in frustration.
Much to my pleasant surprise, tucked deep within the cedar shrub was the headstone!

I was torn between seriously clipping back the shrub (and yes, I was lucky to have clippers in my car from stewardship activities earlier in the week) or just leaving it the way it was. In a way I felt the shrub represented my ancestors having perhaps having grown from their remains. In the end I compromised and opened it up just enough so other relatives could find the site, but left it overall intact out of respect for Edward, Sarah and Harriett.