Hi Laurell and All, You have gotten some excellent advise from others on the list. Samuel's grave stone is in the West Parish burying ground. Samuel's burial stone is white granite which was imported from England. It is the oldest dated stone in the burial ground and predates the ground's establishment. The borders are an interesting design which has been analyzed, and the results are on file at the Andover Historical Society. The Andover Historical society is in the Amos Blanchard house/museum and you can visit them online at: http://www.town.andover.ma.us/commun/research.htm It is important to contact them ahead of time to arrange your visit if you want to view the oversized items that are stored in the basement. I have learned from experience to ask for the person in charge to ensure that someone will be available to get you those items. They have files of information on the Blanchard family. One item of particular interest to me are the columns by Charlotte H Abbott, "Historical Andover," printed in the Andover Townsman in the late 1800's. She mentions the difficulty tracing the deeds for the old Blanchard homes. I believe the deeds are all indexed in books there as well and I have not as yet researched them. Because of the close proximity to Blanchards (now Haggarts, I believe) pond you can guess the general location of Samuel's original house. Charlotte refers to someone moving the houses around if memory serves me correctly. There is a publication of the Historical Society that I have found particularly interesting. It is called "The Sinne of Ignorance", and includes an article about the witch hysteria but more importantly a household list and wonderful map of Andover in 1692. Jonathan is buried in the South Parish Burying Yard, Andover MA with his wife Ann. Hers is the oldest stone in that yard. The Historical Society has a map of the yard in the Blanchard file that assists in locating his plot. I put pansy's there last year, let me know if they came back. We have not found Thomas' burial site. My brother is insistent it is to be found, I am less than optimistic. He has proven me wrong in the past! Like Betsy I descend from Jonathan through Benjamin who went to Hollis rather than Wilton. I do not know where your other two Stephen's are buried but I suspect the first is in Andover. Deborah may be there as well. I think Charlotte's article covers their deaths. The New England Historic and Genealogical Library that John mentioned is a wonderful facility. It is quite costly to go for the day, perhaps $10.00 or $15.00 for the day. They do have a ton of information and it is worth it if you go early and stay late. They are open late one evening. You can check their hours at their web page which I do not have the url for. They are located at 101 Newbury Street in Boston and their phone is 617.536.5740 That's all I can think of now. If more comes to mind I will send it along. When will you be here? I need to do some work at Newbury Street perhaps we could meet there? Best wishes, Sherry ---------- From: Pmhodges[SMTP:mhodges@mail.fwi.com] Sent: Wednesday, August 19, 1998 9:47 PM To: BLANCHARD-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Trip to NH and Mass Hello Blanchard cousins, I find this list most interesting and very factual. Now I would like some advise. I will be traveling to the New England area the end of September just for genealogy purposes. I want to get the maximum benefit from this trip, so I have a few questions I'm sure you can answer. Stephen6 Blanchard (Stephen5, Stephen4, Jonathon3, Samuel2, Thomas1,)is buried at Wilton Vale End Cemetery. I'll be making a stop there. 1. Do you know any burial sites for other ancestors listed above? 2. Are there any houses in Wilton or Milford still standing that ancestors lived in? 3. Any other sites in New Hampshire or Andover that I should know about? 4. What about the Genealogy Chart of Margaret Blanchard at Andover Historical Society? 5. Is there a library in Boston area that is famous for genealogy material that is only located there? (I'm very fortunate to live close to Ft Wayne Library) Any information that you might like to add would also be appreciated. Thank You Laurell Hodges South Whitley, In mhodges@mail.fwi.com