Memorial Day 2008

Old Fields Burying Ground

Lilacs to South Berwick

My Nana, Edith Jane Pierce Hale, was born in South Berwick, Maine in 1883, one of 14 children of John Lord Pierce and Irene Nason Pierce. She moved to Rockport, Mass in 1907 with her daughter from a previous marriage and her husband Frank Hale.

As far back as I can remember I heard stories of South Berwick and her life and family. As a child in the 1940's, I loved those stories and a few times I was invited along to visit Aunt Lettie , Bill Goodwin and other family members. It was a very long ride in a one seat coupe, where my brother and I would be riding in an adult's lap or up on the ledge over the trunk.

Every year in May, Nana started getting ready for her yearly, most meaningful trip to South Berwick. It was time to put the lilacs on the graves of her parents. Early in the month she would start checking the bushes, and the topic of conversation for the next 3 weeks would be a daily report on whether they would be ready to take to Maine. If it was too hot, she would fret that they would be “gone by”, if it was cold and damp they would never be ready. Nana, who never asked for anything all year ,would start asking my father, “Raymond, when do you think you can take me to Maine?”. This would go on as he teased her a little, but they would usually decide to go the week before Memorial Day. On the morning they would leave she would cut beautiful lilacs from each of her bushes, one white, one light purple and her prize double dark purple bush. She would wrap the stems in wet newspaper and bring along cemetery vases to put them in and they would be off on their trip. My father died in 1969 and Nana died in 1973 and the lilac tradition ceased.

My husband and I retired to Wells a few years ago and I began searching for my ancestors, and found so many in South Berwick that we started attending some of the lectures of the Old Berwick Historical Society and decided to join. This past year we went along on a tour of Old Fields Cemetery and as we walked in the gate, my husband took my arm and pointed to the nearest gravestone and asked if those were my Pierce family. I was suddenly overcome and tears ran down my cheek as I thought of Nana and her lilacs and realizing that I was standing where she had faithfully come every year to honor her parents. I vowed that this year I would try and find some lilacs and take them to Old Fields.

Thank you OBHS for helping me find this beautiful spot.
Lucy Hale MacLeod
Drakes Island, ME
May 2008

 

Rebirth of Old Fields Burying Ground

Thanks to the dedication of Bruce Whitney, of the South Berwick Cemetery Association, the Old Fields Burying Ground (also known as the Vine Street Cemetery), is experiencing a rebirth. Under his direction this past spring, groups of students, neighbors and volunteers worked for several days to remove brush, dead leaves and fallen limbs from the cemetery grounds.

Among the volunteers were Lucy Hale MacLeod and her husband, Robert MacLeod, residents of Drakes' Island in Wells. Spending time in the cemetery recalled to Lucy a family tradition in which she took part, when a child in the 1940s. Her grandmother, Edith Jane Pierce Hale, was born in South Berwick in 1883. Edith moved to Rockport, Massachusetts, with her husband, Frank. However, Edith did not forget her parents' graves at Old Fields Burying Ground. It was a long ride from Rockport to South Berwick, in a one-seat coupe, but every year, when the lilacs were in bloom, the family made a pilgrimage to South Berwick to place flowers in the family plot. The tradition ceased in 1973, with the passing of Edith Hale. This Memorial Day, Lucy Hale MacLeod has resumed the tradition, and lilacs once again honor the lives of her ancestors.

Also honoring the lives of South Berwick men, were members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5744 and the Old Berwick Historical Society. This year, they teamed up to locate soldiers' resting places in the old cemetery, which dates from the 1600s. VFW member Ernie Wood and historical society members Herbie Geiler, Carolyn Geiler, Judy Wood and Wendy Pirsig placed flags on the graves of 24 South Berwick men who fought in World War I, the Civil War, the American Revolution, and the French and Indian wars.

More details about the Old Fields Burying Ground and the South Berwick veterans and towns' people who are buried there, can be found at the OBHS website, www.obhs.org . Maintenance of this ancient cemetery is done by volunteers. Clean-up work is continuing over the summer. The public is invited to visit the cemetery on Vine Street, and if so inclined, lend a hand by collecting branches and leaving them off at the front of the cemetery.


Old Town of Berwick
South Berwick Cemeteries
Old Berwick Historical Society Homepage