The Cook Memorial Library and the Tamworth History Center have received a community project grant from New Hampshire Humanities to host the presentation/cemetery tour “New Hampshire Cemeteries and Gravestones” on Saturday, October 26 at 12:30 p.m. Glenn Knoblock will present this “Humanities in Action” program “in the field” at Ordination Rock Cemetery, 299 Cleveland Hill Road in Tamworth, at the intersection of Hollow Hill Road. Since the program takes place outdoors in the cemetery, be prepared for weather and uneven ground. Heavy rain (or snow) location is the Tamworth History Center at the Hall-Dyer House at 25 Great Hill Road in Tamworth.
Rubbings, photographs, and slides illustrate the rich variety of gravestones to be found in our own neighborhoods, but they also tell long-forgotten stories of such historical events as the Great Awakening, the Throat Distemper epidemic, and the American Revolution. In this cemetery tour, Glenn Knoblock will point out examples of these deeply personal works of art, and describe the work of the craftsmen who carved them. Knoblock will also demonstrate how to read how the stone “pages” give insight into the vast genealogical book of New Hampshire.
Want to help preserve some of these gravestones? Tamworth Cemetery Trustees will hold their annual volunteer cemetery restoration work session from 9 am to 12 noon at Ordination Rock Cemetery.
Glenn Knoblock is an independent scholar and author of fifteen books and over 100 articles. He is also the author and historian on projects relating to Northern New England bridges, New Hampshire cemeteries, and brewing history, and African-American military history. Knoblock has served as the main military contributor to Harvard and Oxford University’s landmark African-American Biography Project. He holds a BA in History from Bowling Green State University.
After the program, The Tamworth History Center will offer a hearty hot lunch at 1:45 at the Hall-Dyer House, followed by their Annual Meeting at 2:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome.