***Remember that the absence of a death date does not mean the people are still alive. Nor does it mean that they are not. General rule is according to science if the date of birth is about 100 years previous to the current date that they are dead. If the date is 150 years previous then I assure you they aren't alive. It just means I have no idea when they died. ***
Remember always, a headstone is not a tribute to someone's death, but rather a tribute and honor to a person who lived and loved. It is a reminder that no matter your station in life or your worldly goods you made a difference.
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Come along with me and I will tell you a story...
___________________________________________________________________________
On January 31, 1855, from his home in Austerlitz, New York,
Wade M. Calkins wrote this poem to his brother Charlie.
Forget thee? - if to dream by night, and must on
thee by day;
Forget thee? - bid the freest birds forget their
sweetest song!
Forget thee? - bid the sea forget to swell beneath
the moon!
- bid the thirsty flowers forget to drink the
e'er refreshing dew!
thyself forget thine 'own dear land,' and its
Prairies wild and blue;
Forget each old familiar face, each long remembered
spot;
When these things are forgot by thee,
Then thou shalt be forgot!
Keep, if thou wilt, thy sullen peace, still calm
and fancy free
For God forbid thy gladsome heart should grow
less glad for me;
If these preserved for patient years, at last avail
me not,
Forget me then; - but ne'er believe
That thou
canst be forgot.
*** from VOICES OF THE PRAIRIE LAND by Martin Litvin
******LIST OF FAMOUS PEOPLE IN TREE:
Arthur Pratt, deputy U.S. Marshall, son of Sarah Marinda Bates Pratt and Orson Pratt
Abraham Briggs, Massachusetts State Representative, 1865
Ansel Briggs, first Governor of Iowa
Reverend Arthur Shepard Thurber, Jr.,
Bing Russell, actor
Bobby Darin, musician, singer-songwriter, and actor
Bruce Edward Babbitt, U.S. Secretary of the Interior and Governor of Arizona
Casper Warren Briggs, one of the leading producers of lantern slides in the United States
Judge Charles Grafton Wilberton French, an American jurist and politician
Ebenezer N. Briggs, Vermont State Senator and Representative
Elijah Babbitt, U.S. Congressman from Pennsylvania
Edmund Burke Ball, Lucius Lorenzo Ball, William Charles Ball, Frank Clayton Ball, and George Alexander Ball, founders of the Ball Corporation who were instrumental in the creation of Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana
Emimem, rapper
Frank Angelo Furillo, a well known icon in sports journalism in Los Angeles
Frederick D. Ely, U.S. Congressman from Massachusetts
Francis S. Babbitt, Mayor of Taunton, Massachusetts and a Massachusetts State Representative
George Nathaniel Curzon, a British statesman, conservative politician, and writer who served as Viceroy of India from 1899 to 1905
George H. Babbitt, Mayor of Taunton, Massachusetts, 1874-1876
Helaman Pratt,
Helen Davidson, first lady of Wisconsin
Herbert M. Waterman, Maine State Representative, 1925-1926
Isaac Babcock,
Isaac Babbitt, a goldsmith who, in 1839, invented a low-friction, tin-based metal alloy, “Babbitt metal”, used in engine bearings
James Earl Carter, former president of United States
James Lord Pierpont, an American songwriter, arranger, organist, Confederate States soldier and composer, best known for writing and composing “Jingle Bells in 1857
John Davison Rockefeller, II,
Jacob Babbitt, a Rhode Island State Representative who died from his wounds suffered at the Battle of Fredericksburg
Joseph E. Warner, Massachusetts State Attorney General, 1928-1935, and Massachusetts State Representative – and its Speaker from 1919 to 1920
Joseph R. Farrington, U.S. Congressional Delegate from Hawaii, 1943-1954
John Goodwin Tower, U.S. Senator from Texas
John G. Babbitt, Arizona State Senator
January Jones, actress
Janis Joplin, singer
Joseph Woody “J.W” Stoker, rodeo
Kurt Russell, actor
Levi Zeigler Leiter,
Laura Ingraham, conservative television and radio talk show host
Lucille Ball, actress
Michael McKool, Senator from Texas
Matt Franco, Major League Baseball player
Nelson Rockefeller, an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford
Orson Pratt, an American mathematician and religious leader who was an original member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Christ
Orson Pratt, Jr., a musician and music instructor in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Orion P. Howe, Medal of Honor recipient
Parley Parker Pratt, an early leader of the Latter Day Saint movement whose writings became a significant early nineteenth-century exposition of the Latter Day Saint faith
Stephen Grover Cleveland, an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1897
Samuel Crane, Major League Baseball player and manager
Ted Cruz, Senator from Texas
William Chandler Bearce, a prominent shoe manufacturer in the 1800s in Maine.
William (Willem) Dafoe, actor
William Ashley Sunday, an American outfielder in baseball’s National League and widely considered the most influential American evangelist during the first two decades of the 20th century.
William J. Briggs, Massachusetts State Representative, 1886-1887
Wallace R. Farrington, Territorial Governor of Hawaii, 1921-1929
Elder William Brewster, an English official and Mayflower passenger in 1620
Judge Walter Albert Briggs, a special justice of the Fourth District Court of Bristol County in Massachusetts. He served on the Town Finance Committee, the School Committee and the City Council. Belonged as a member to the Ashler Lodge, A.F. & M., Elks Lodge, Red Men Pokanoket Tribe, and the Lion's Club
Theodore Foster, a senator from Rhode Island
Erastus Fairbanks Snow, Apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. One of the greatest missionaries and orators. Founder of Snowflake, Arizona along with William Flake.
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