Three Cemeteries and the tales they tell - July 3 ,2019

RIDE REPORT

Wednesday, 3 July 2019, Three Cemeteries - and the tales they tell
Ride Leader:  Susan Sabin
33 miles, 9:30 am start from 40 Seaver Street, Wellesley, MA

Riders (21):  Susan, Adena Schutzberg, Barry Nelson, Bill Lane, Bill Widnall, Butch Pemstein, Dave Balaban, David Fay, David Wean, Dmitry Gorenburg, Elsa Lawrence, Gary Williams,  Julia Zhogina, Kaz Zelny, Margaret Coughlin, Randy Stern, Rich Taylor, Rochelle Holman, Sally Chapman, Tom Lawrence, and first-timer Joan Fenster.
Present at ride start & lunch:  Helen Greitzer.

Twenty-one wheelers gathered for a ride that was also to be a historic tour:  Three cemeteries and the tales they tell.  We had a problem (besides the high temps) right at the get-go.  The street where I recommended parking was about to be repaired (no advance warnings), so people had to scramble for alternate parking).  That settled, we left only ten minutes late and, by then, Helen had all the lunch orders in hand (a big applause for Helen!).  Three riders missed the start because of this confusion, but caught up at cemetery # 1, just four miles from the ride start.  Thereafter, we stayed together, although the ride leader took a private rest stop on two subsequent hills, while most everyone else politely waited for her.

The most unusual thing that happened was a chance visit from the chair of the cemetery commission of Sherborn, as we were leaving cemetery #2 (cemetery of Sherborn Reformatory).  She contended, contrary to the information I had just delivered, that no doctor was buried in said cemetery.  So, I followed up and she and I have had a 'Very Interesting' exchange.  That gal sure knows how to do cemetery research and is wildly efficient.  Using info I provided, she found the doctor (whose name was disguised in the reference material that I had had).

     Dr. Catharine W. (Cavannah) Castle
     Born January 1867 in England.
     Daughter of Edward and Zilphah Cavannah
     Immigrated 1886.
     Naturalized 1896.
     Married Sept. 19, 1896 in Boston, MA, to Henry C. Castle.
     Living in Boston, MA, June 4, 1900 -  "medical student."
     Graduated from BU as an MD in 1903.
     Divorced from Henry, who was in Westborough State Hospital during the 1910 census.
     Gave birth to one child, Elaine (Castle) Trombley, 1901-1933.
     Living at Reformatory in 1930 - "attendant in hospital."
     Living at Reformatory in 1935.
     Living at Reformatory in 1940 - "Reformatory Officer."
     NOT buried in Sherborn, MA!

FYI for those not on the tour:  said MD performed at least seven abortions.  She was jailed, one after the other, for each.  She was also an alcoholic - (so might I be, in her situation!).

Anyway, Susan, the cemetery chairwoman, is still on the case and looking for where Catherine IS buried.  Interesting, too, is that the (erroneous) burial info comes straight from the (non-fiction) book, "Maternal Justice," by Estelle Freedman (a former professor of history at Stanford), published by U. of Chicago Press.  So now, there are two experts:  Susan from Sherborn, who is researching primary data, and Freedman, with sterling credentials, saying opposite stuff.  Hmmm . . . . .

I know this info is more than most people want to read, so I apologize for the extra verbiage.  Am hoping that someone besides me finds this interesting!

Finally, thanks to Elsa for sweeping and to Rich for the photos.  I received a lot of positive comments about the ride and believe that most participants enjoyed having the variety of a historic tour in the mix of "normal" WW rides.

Report by Susan Sabin.