Abbott, Jeremiah F.
Jeremiah F. Abbott died in 1882 and is actually buried in Salem’s Harmony Grove Cemetery. He appears in the Record because he lived in Beachmont. His obituary in the Journal notes that he “lived a very active life” and “invented a safety guard for elevators on which he secured a patent.” Abbott was only 57 when he died of Bright’s Disease.
Bancroft, George Washington
George Washington Bancroft is another name from the list who is not buried in RMBG. He rests in Peabody’s Cedar Grove Cemetery. He appears in the Record because he died, along with 28 others, in Revere’s infamous train disaster on August 26, 1871. The locomotive of one train plowed into the last car of another, and people were crushed, scalded and burned to death. Bancroft’s faded gravestone makes note of this: “Killed in the R.R. disaster at Revere August 26 1871.”
Barry, Louisa
The Revere Journal of December 9, 1882 congratulates Mr. and Mrs. John Barry on the birth of their 13th child, Louisa, born a week prior. Heartbreakingly, Louisa died nine days later, perhaps the victim of a harsh winter. The Journal noted just below their blurb of congratulations that recent temperatures had been extremely low.
Cronin, John H.
John H. Cronin died in 1883 at age 6. The Record lists his parents as Michael and Margaret. It seems that the Journal did not publish obituaries for children, so there were no search results for John. A search for his father Michael brought up the Police Court column from December 28, 1889, in which Michael Cronin was fined $15 and costs for stabbing a horse. The Journal, somewhat unbelievably, led this article by noting that Cronin was “said to be a very good fellow generally.”
Crowley, Daniel and Michael
Two more unfortunate children from the Record are Daniel and Michael Crowley, who died in 1878 and 1882. The Journal gives no account of them, but their father Michael’s death was reported on in 1902.
Michael Crowley worked for Revere’s sewer department, and died after being overcome by sewer gas. He and a coworker, Jerry Reardon, were cleaning a sewer tank when Crowley passed out. Reardon was surprised because they had done this kind of work before, always without incident. He attempted to carry Crowley up the ladder but fell before reaching the manhole. Reardon gave it another shot but fell again, this tine breaking an ankle. Reardon then managed to get out of the tank on his own, but by the time he was able to get help and get Crowley out of the tank it was too late.
Davenport, Nathaniel
Nathaniel Davenport died at only 5 months old on September 7th, 1883. Research into the Record reveals that the burying of children in unmarked graves in RMBG started in the 1840s. The notice below from The Revere Journal of September 22, 1883 is the exception rather than the rule; the deaths of very young children almost never made the paper.
