My husband, Rob, is only a little interested in genealogy. Usually, his eyes glaze over when I tell him something about his ancestors. I’m sure you can all relate. But he surprised me. When I suggested going on a trip to find where his ancestors are buried, he was all for it.
We had a free hotel room coming to us that was going to expire at the end of 2022, so he came up with the idea of traveling to Newbury and Newburyport, Massachusetts to see the ancestral land of his 8x great-grandfather, Henry Lunt, one of the founders of Newbury back in the 1630s.
It’s a great time of year to do this kind of thing as long as the weather cooperates. Newburyport, as the name suggests, is a coastal town, so in the summer months, tourists are all over the place and it’s much harder to get around.
We stopped first at the monument dedicated to the first settlers. Names of interest for Rob include Lunt, Dole, Cutting, Knight, Noyes, Rolfe, and Emery.
Next was the Burying Ground of the First Settlers.
It is set off the road and there is no parking available, so we just parked on the side and walked a few feet to the entrance.
I already knew Henry Lunt would not have a headstone, even though he is buried here. But other direct-line ancestors do have headstones such as Richard Dole and his wife Hannah Rolfe, another set of Rob’s 8x great-grandparents. If you do the math we each have 1,024 8th great-grandparents.
After a nice drive around, we wanted to see if we could find any more Lunt ancestors, so it was off to two cemeteries, First Parish Burying Ground (established in 1635) and Oak Hill Cemetery (founded in 1842). There were numerous family members in both. Rob was equally as excited as I was when we found one. Some headstones were by themselves and others were in a family plot with many headstones.
By the end of the day, we both felt good about what we accomplished. Rob did mention that it seems surreal that these people are part of his lineage. I guess because he is not knee-deep in records like I am, he feels disconnected from them. I’m not sure he’ll ever want to dive into the records, but that’s okay. That’s my task and I do it happily.
Update: To read more about what photos to take when you go to a cemetery, read this blog post.
Genealogy Tip: Do your research before you go on any kind of genealogy trip. Familiarize yourself with surnames that may have been associated with your ancestors. This tip helped a lot in our cemetery adventure as I looked around the headstones to see many familiar names.
I love doing cemetery research, so if you’d like a hand with your family, let me know.
My name is Frances Kallen McCune,,the eldest granddaughter of Alfred Eastman Lunt, son of Hery & Elizabeth Blake Lunt . I was born in 1936. Alfred E. Lunt , my grandfather, died in 1937.
Hi Frances,
Thank you for writing. I hope you enjoyed reading about the Lunt family, but perhaps you knew all of this. Have you ever visited Newburyport? If you have any family history or stories, I’d love to know.
Take care,
Gray
Hello Grey, Sorry to be so late in replying. To answer your question …no, I left the state with family right after WWII was over. I am very appreciative of the photos, though. Thank you for that. When my Uncle Clarence Lunt passed away, & then my grandfather, his brother, things changed. I believe my branch of the family spent much time in North Beverly, MA which is where my grandfather was born & raised. ( in the family home on Dodge Road.) As for the stories: U. Clarence owned Lunt Sterling, which was sold years ago, my grandfather became a Lawyer, graduating Harvard Law in 1905. Sadly, my grandfather died in 1937, a year after I was born. He had 3 daughters & 2 sons, one of whom was Alfred E. Lunt Jr. ,& his son Alfred E. Lunt III, was career military, as a Coronel in the Army. I am the eldest child in the family & will be 90 in a few months. My U.Alfred II, had 3 other sons that have sons, so the Lunt Family will still be around for a good while on this end,,,How about you & your family?
I am looking forward to hearing from you,
Frances Kallen McCune