Challenge

This Family Historian's Challenge becomes a

Thrilling Discovery's at Jordan Cemetery

Waterford, CT 

Imagine trying to find the death certificate for your daughter 70 years later.
Heart breaking. 

Genealogy research is often like assembling a quilt—stitching together scraps of information, following patterns, and sometimes stumbling upon unexpected treasures. Such was the case in our exhilarating adventure at Jordan Cemetery in Waterford, Connecticut in the fall of  2022.

Mary Rollins father, William Richard Rollins, had been trying to find her death certificate for years. Interestingly he never mentioned her to me in all the hours we sat together talking about family.  She was first introduced to me a few years ago when I rolled out miles of  track fed paper revealing our family tree that my grandfather had put together through Family Tree Maker in the 1990's.  I was shocked to see her name (and another child of his Harry Rollins)  I was also shocked to find letters he had written to the Connecticut State Department of Health Services in Hartford.  

First known request for daughters death certificate in 1990

Second request for death certificate
with this note added in 1994

Armed with merely a hunch, a handful of names and whole lot of hope, I contacted the cemetery superintendent where Mary Warner's (my great grandmother) son Samuel's Davis's family was buried. I informed him I'd be visiting his beautiful cemetery the next day to pay respects at the Samuel Davis's family plot. I sent him three names asking if they were by any chance interred at his cemetery. I was confident about Samuel Davis and his family being laid to rest at Jordon Cemetery. I simply wondered if his mother, my 2x great-grandmother and her daughter were also buried there.  

The real mystery was where were Samuel's mother, Louisa Jackson Davis; his sister, Mary J. Warner Squire; and his niece, Mary Rollins, buried and the biggest challenge being if not there, then where.  There was no clear reason for them to be found in this cemetery—just a genealogist's gut instinct and a thread of hope. And who was this baby I'd never heard about anyway. 

The gullibility of this stitcher that anything can be put together trumped all odds. The family had lived in New London, Connecticut as a unit for many years, I was in the area,  and with no other records found at the time, why not ask.

Imagine my astonishment when I arrived at the superintendent’s office  only to have him announce that not only were all three names in the records, but they were all buried together! It was a moment of pure discovery, the kind that makes family research so thrilling.

Armed with this newfound knowledge, we set off to locate their burialsite and pay our respects. But after an exhaustive search, tramping through rows of weathered stones and moss-covered markers, we came up empty-handed. That’s when we enlisted the help of a dedicated cemetery volunteer, Byron Nieman. With his expertise, he guided us to the exact location, ensuring that these long-lost ancestors were no longer forgotten in unmarked obscurity. Although their family plot is unmarked. His assistance was invaluable.

Unmarked burial site for Louisa Davis, Mary Warner and Mary Rollins photo
courtesy Barbara Fueston Grandon Collection

Another challenge that blanketed over the visit to Connecticut included where was Mary's death certificate.   Reading my grandfather's letters to the Connecticut Vital Records department many years ago asking for information about his daughter's death because he didn't even have a full name for her, "because her mother named her" was heartbreaking. However, he wanted to find her death certificate for his genealogy records. His requests were written to the Hartford Vital Records department, not New London where they actually lived, and where the baby's death occurred.   I knew I needed to go to the New London City Clerk's office in New London, Connecticut.  

Infant Rollins Death Certificate

Thirty two years after his first request, and many years after his death, the death certificate for Mary Rollins was obtained. 

The burial timeline painted a fascinating picture and raised questions: 

• 1924 – Louisa Jackson Davis; died in January but was exhumed and moved to Jordan Cemetery in November-Why?

• 1929 – Mary Rollins; the infant daughter of Ruth and William   Rollins, their first born, died at birth

• 1931 – Samuel Davis buried;  son of Louisa, brother to Mary J.

• 1932 – Mary J. Warner Squire buried; Samuel's sister

  
  

This experience was a testament to the power of perseverance, intuition, and a little bit of luck. It reaffirmed that family history is not just about names and dates—it’s about rediscovering lives, reconnecting generations, and preserving the threads that weave us together.

William Rollins writing to a cousin in 1991 full letter in
possession of Barbara Fueston Grandon

An excerpt from a letter William Rollins wrote to a cousin, and it rings true today that we need to ask about family while we can. 

What an exhilarating challenge this was, and what a rewarding treasure we found!

The questions: we know Mary J Warner Squire owns the plot and there is room for 6 people.  Where is her husband John Squire buried?  Did a father know where his daughter was buried? Why was Louisa exhumed and reburied in this new family plot that her daughter Mary purchased? 

And That is a Wrap....

The threads of another story told, keeping our family story alive.

Barbara 

52 Ancestors in 52 weeks, week 5 prompt 

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