I am an avid genealogist. The past is very important to me. I spend a lot of time in cemeteries photographing tombstones to upload on the website FindAGrave.
I enjoy recognizing long dead people by putting memorials to them online. However, every once and a while something grabs me about a specific grave. It could be the name, or the dates or a ceramic photo. In those cases, I feel compelled to dig a little deeper. That's what this series of blogs is about: The tales behind those graves. Some of my subjects will be heroes. Some will be villains. Some will be victims. And some will linger in between, like most of us. However, don't be surprised if the tales are inherently tragic. These are grave tales. They all end in death.
I am grateful that people are reading these blogs, and as a result I am starting to receive questions about the cemeteries and suggestions about stories. After my blog about Maria Monteferrante, Facebook friend Margie Kreiner Sweeney wrote that her grandparents, William and Mary Tully, were also buried at Most Holy Redeemer Cemetery. She also mentioned that their son James Tully had died tragically at the age of twelve in 1933. I had to investigate, and when I did I knew I had another grave tale, particularly after I noticed an uncanny coincidence to a tragedy in my own family. Here's the sad story of James Tully.
The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), 17 July 1933, Tuesday:
HEAT CUTS OFF WATER AT LOCH RAVEN
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Engineer Denies Danger Of Shortage, Despite Long Hot Spell
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93-DEGREE RECORD TEMPERED BY WIND
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Boy Drowns In Fall From Rowboat While Reaching For Lost Oar
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As Baltimore went through the second day of the current heat wave yesterday and a peak of 93 degrees was recorded, water ceased flowing over the dam at Loch Raven, a fact which the superstitious and those who use the dam's flow as a barometer may consider an ill omen.
There are many residents of the city who believe when the water stops falling over the crest of the dam it is a sure sign that torrid conditions will continue until the end of the summer. Yesterday the face of the dam was as dry as the desert. Not a drop of water was to be seen.
Engineer Denies Shortage
The water backed up behind the dam, however, was nearly on a level with the crest. A short time ago Leon Small, Water Engineer, said there was an abundance of water available for the summer with no shortage or drought was in prospect. Millions of gallons of water have gone to waste over the dam's crest since the first of the year. There is a further loss, it was said, through evaporation.
The Weather Bureau yesterday said that there is a deficiency in precipitation of 1.54 inches since July 1 and that the accumulated excess in temperature for the same period is 64 degrees, or an average of 4 degrees a day.
One Drowning Reported
One drowning was reported yesterday. James Tully, 12, fell out of a rowboat at a beach resort and was lost despite attempts of others to save him.
The boy, a son of Mr. and Mrs. William Tully, 1906 Fairmount avenue, had gone to the beach with members of Boy Scout Troop 179. The beach is not their regular camp. According to Scoutmaster Meryl Stevenson, one of those who attempted a rescue, James went out in a rowboat against orders and fell when he reached for an oar.
The crew of a Baltimore police boat dragged the sport, which is near Back River Neck road, unsuccessfully in the afternoon for the body. Coast Guardsmen continued the search last night.
The story continued about the weather, but I will stop here. James' fate was especially moving to me because my Rosenberger family experienced a similar tragedy at the same place on the same day exactly six years earlier! My 2nd great-granduncle
John Rosenberger, Jr., and his fourteen-year-old son
George drowned after their rowboat capsized in Back River on 17 July 1927. That incident had a deep and profound effect on the family. One day, I will have to tell John and George's story. They are also buried at Holy Redeemer Cemetery, but sadly no stones mark their graves.
Let's get back to James....
The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), 18 July 1933:
WARMER WEATHER IS DUE TOMORROW
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Temperatures To Remain Seasonable Today, Bureau Predicts
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DROP BELOW NORMAL
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Body Of Boy Who Fell From Boat Found In Back River After Long Hunt
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One more day of "seasonable" weather for Baltimore was predicated by the Weather Bureau last night, but by tomorrow the mercury will begin another climb toward the 90's.
Yesterday the maximum temperature was 85 degrees, reached at 4 P.M. The mean temperature was 77 degrees, 1 degree below normal. Much the same conditions will prevail today with the peak being 85 degrees or slightly higher.
Boy's Body Is Found
The body of a 12-year-old boy was finally located in Back river yesterday after a police boat and a Coast Guard airplane and cutter had searched for it for nearly two days.
Patrolman Wesley Hughes and Charles Ripken, of the Essex police, were in a boat dragging when the body came to the surface near them. The boy was identified as James Tully, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Tully, 1906 Fairmount avenue. He had gone to the beach with members of Boy Scout Troop 179. According to Scoutmaster Meryl Stevenson, James went out in a rowboat against orders and fell when he reached for an oar.
To me, there's nothing sadder than the death of child. They die before they taste the fullness of life, and their promise unfulfilled. They also leave without generations of descendants to honor their names. That's why I always make room for them here. Lest they be forgotten....
Remember, there is a story behind every grave. You never know what you're missing when you walk past one....
Grave Tales:
My novel Chapel Street is now available! You can buy the Kindle and paperback at Amazon and the Nook, paperback and hardcover at Barnes & Noble. Chapel Street is the tale of a young man battling a demonic entity that has driven members of his family to suicide for generations. It was inspired by an actual haunting.
Learn more about the book, click
Here.
Listen to me read some chapters here:
Read about the true haunting that inspired the novel here:
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 1, An IntroductionThe Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 2, The HouseThe Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 3, This Is UsThe Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 4, ArrivalThe Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 5, MethodologyThe Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 6, Clara's Tale, Pt. 1The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 7, Clara's Tale, Pt. 2The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 8, My Tale, Pt. 1The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 9, My Tale, Pt. 2The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 10, My Tale, Pt. 3The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 11, Natalia's Tale, Pt. 1The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 12, Natalia's Tale, Pt. 2The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 13, John's Tale, Pt. 1 The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 14, John's Tale, Pt. 2The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 15, Come Inside!The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 16, Marion's Tale, Pt. 1The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 17, Marion's Tale, Pt. 2The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 18, Jeanne's Tale, Pt. 1The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 19, Jeanne's Tale, Pt. 2The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 20, Lisa's TaleThe Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 21, Recap, Pt. 1The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 22, Recap, Pt. 2The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 23, Recap, Pt. 3
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