St. Patrick’s Cemetery, Natick, MA

A short update from my last research trip to Natick, MA, in search of the final resting place of my great-grandparents, George and Julia Perkins. Research would indicate that St. Patrick’s Cemetery in Natick was the place that was most likely to look for my great-grandparents’ graves, so my father and I headed up there with energy and determination. We arrived mid-morning and walked around, and walked around, and walked around…we finally met the cemetery director and verified my great-grandparents’ graves were not located at St. Patrick’s. However, we did locate my great-great-grandparents’ burial site (Julia’s parents, as shown) so we were happy to have achieved this important find. We headed across the street to the Dell Park Cemetery, where people of any religious background are allowed to be buried…no luck there either. More than just the steady rain had dampened our spirits, so we headed into town to check the Town Clerk’s Office and the Reference Library. No luck in either place, but the librarian gave us a great recommendation for lunch.

As we headed across the town green toward our lunch spot, the Everett Funeral Home was just off the town center to our left. I had heard from a cousin that he was pretty sure the folks at Everett were responsible for the funeral arrangements for my great-grandparents. After satisfying our hunger, we planned to head over to the Everett Funeral Home to satisfy our search for some questions. Lunch was very good and upon arriving at the Everett Funeral Home, we were greeted by some very nice people. We asked our questions and wrote down all the information we had…and then left with their promise to look up the information in their records. The funeral home was very beautiful and we commented that we were surprised our cousin mentioned he had to stoop to enter the funeral home during our grandmother’s funeral. A long story short: no luck on obtaining any information about George or Julia Perkins from their records, but the mention of the memory of stooping to arrive at the funeral home had prompted the memory of someone who had worked at the funeral home for some time – he said that the Mitchell Funeral Home had a very low ceiling during the 1960’s and 1970’s. A few more calls and….YES, I received information that the Mitchell Funeral Home had indeed held Julia Perkins’ funeral and she is buried in Braintree, MA, at the Plain Street Cemetery!! No record of George Perkins, but my hope is that he is buried alongside Julia, his wife.

My next adventure will likely take place in the area of Braintree…and I might as well keep on going to Plymouth County and visit the sites of my many other ancestors in that area. Stay tuned for more!!