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This Page Last Updated on Sunday March 22, 2009

 

NIAGARA FALLS FAIRVIEW CEMETERY

The following photographs were taken at the Fairview Cemetery in Niagara Falls, Ontario on July 15, 2008.  A lead to this location came from the obituaries of Julia and Margaret Laughton that were included in the information packages from Lindy Laughton of Plano, Texas.  Prior to this time we knew that some of the John Laughton 1829 family had been buried on the Canadian side, near the border, but we did not know the location.

The cemetery was very well maintained but the marker stones had sunk over time so they had to be dug out and cleaned for the photographs. There are two separate locations of LAUGHTON in this cemetery, those being the father John Laughton 1829 and his wife Kathleen, along with daughters Julia, Jennie and Margaret, and what appears to be a young son Bruce. In the other location is John Laughton's son Edward Laughton and his wife Bertha, who is reported in Paul's records as being a "long term invalid".

This was our first use of the on-site GPS readings for the initial location of the grave sites (using Google Earth) and for the final marking of the stone locations. Click on any of these images to them in larger scale.

For those that want to download all the site photographs, including those not used in the following summary, they have been placed in a single zip folder that you can download here.


Fairview Cemetery, Niagara Falls ON, Google Earth
The first step in the process was to locate the Fairview Cemetery in Niagara Falls, which we did using Google Earth Mapping.

We were able to get a location on the main entrance ("drive to instructions") using the main address on Stanley Avenue opposite Maple Street.

A general idea of the location of the family plots was made using the site map and identifiers provided by the cemetery.

The information on all of the plots will be included in the Google Earth Community as soon as Exeter and Parkhill are updated. You can locate any of my Google Earth Projects completed by searching for user "rlaughton".

 


GPS Location of Stones and Markers
Fairview Cemetery, Niagara Falls ON, Canada
As part of ongoing research in the "Great War Soldiers" projects, I have been using on-site GPS readings to locate specific grave stones, so it seemed logical to apply this to the family grave site project as well. My Motorola Q Smartphone (CoPilot GPS software) and the Holux GPS Receiver are shown in this photograph to log the location of the stone.

The on-site GPS readings are "close" to the Google Earth locates but are not exact.  What is important about these is that anyone else using a handheld GPS unit with the settings determined at the site can drive and then walk to the exact grave stone, regardless of the error in the real GPS readings.  All handheld units will show the same error. Using the GPS readings off Google Earth I was within 5 metres of each of the stones.

Using the GPS locate, the stone coordinates are:

43.1093 N  79.0867W

 


Marker Recovery
Again learning from the Great War Soldiers Project I had found that when I arrived at the cemeteries many of the stones were overgrown or buried.  That was certainly the case here as well.

The critical tools to uncover the markers is a handheld grass clipper, a large putty or drywall knife (to cut our around the edges of the markers) and a good stiff brush.  Most of the cemeteries have watering cans and a local water supply if additional cleaning is needed.

If you find stones that are "dull", a little water prior to taking a picture often helps. Pictures are actually best taken on a slightly overcast day so as to avoid shadows.

 


John Laughton Location
On the assumption that someone else may want to go back to this location, or that I should return in a few years to check the condition of the markers, a site location is important.

In this example, the John Laughton 1829 stone is located 4 stones in from the "Emery" stone at the north road of Section B. It is about 6 rows in from the east boundary. You can see the "Emery" stone just to the rear of my truck in this picture.

This is in Section B, Plot 0135, Grave 2 of Fairview Cemetery.

This picture is taken facing North.

 


Marker on John Laughton stone - business card
and note in a 35mm film capsule.
This was the first time that I left a marker at the grave site to let others know that I had been there to clean the stones and take the photographs.  I did this only at the John Laughton 1829 site and not the Edward Laughton stone.

I will need to give some thought to having a standard process for marking the visits, something that is durable but reasonable. In this case, improvising at the site, I used one of my business cards and a 35mm film canister.  It is wired to the top of the marker, something that would not be available at all sites. A larger water proof tube that could be partially buried at the side of a stone might be a better long term solution.

 


John Laughton Front of Stone
This is the John Laughton 1829 stone after all the markers have been cleaned. The text on the front of the stone is as follows:

In Loving Memory of
John Laughton and His Wife Kathleen

A Native of
Orkney Scotland
Born
Aug. 15, 1829
Died
June 9, 1896

A Native of
Ireland
Born
May 25, 1838
Died
March 20, 1896

They shall obtain joy and sadness and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
The Gift of God is Eternal Life


John Laughton Back of Stone
There are no markings on the back of the stone.

At the front of the stone are the grave markers for Margaret, Julie and Jennie (left to right when facing the front of the stone).

At the back of the stone are the grave markers for Mother, Father and Bruce (left to right when facing the back of the stone).


John Laughton Marker
John Laughton
August 15, 1829 -June 9, 1896

John Laughton 1829 ties the families together that fall under John Hugh Laughton 1859 (Ontario Canada) and William Severn Laughton 1872 (Niagara Falls, New York).


Kathleen Laughton Marker
Kathleen Laughton
May 25, 1838 - March 26, 1896

Kathleen is shown on the family tree as "Catherine Margaret Murphy".


Bruce Laughton Stone Recovery
Bruce Laughton
1901 - 1904

The "Bruce K. Laughton" marker was a bit of a mystery, until we heard from John Ivan Laughton (grandson of David Laughton 1861) in September 2008. Bruce's stone marker was more or less buried under the dirt and grass and it appears to be an older stone, as the text is hardly visible (until it is wet) and the only way to determine what it said was by touch.

My original thoughts were that this was a young son of John and Kathleen that had died as a young child. It was only when the dates of 1901 - 1904 were determined that it became obvious that it was the son of one of the daughters. To the best of my knowledge, Julia and Margaret did not marry so perhaps it was a young son of Jennie "R", where the "R" is for her married name "Robertson".

John Ivan Laughton was able to tell us that Edward Laughton (see stone below) had three sons Reid, Norman and Bruce.  Bruce was killed by a train at a young age (1901-1904 so 3 years old).  Edward had been looking after the grave sites for the parents and at the time of Bruce's death there was not yet an Edward Laughton grave site.

To date, I have no other records of Bruce Laughton or Bruce Robertson. The cemetery records clearly show it as "Bruce K. Laughton".

 


Margaret Laughton Marker
Margaret Elizabeth Laughton
June 17, 1874 - January 10, 1964

see details here


Julia Laughton Marker
Julia Laughton
November 25, 1867 - December 20, 1960

see details here


Jennie Laughton Marker
Jean (Jennie) Laughton
April 15, 1870 - January 23, 1927

John Laughton Front and Back of Stone
This picture is included to show the 3 grave markers at the front of the stone: Jennie, Julia and Margaret and at the rear of the stone: Mother, Father, Bruce.

This photograph was taken after the grave markers had been excavated and cleaned.

This photograph was taken facing South.


Edward Laughton Location
The grave site of Edward Laughton, son of John Laughton 1829 is in another area of the Fairview Cemetery. It is located in Section 2, Plot 0249, Grave 4.

As shown in this photograph, the stone is the 4th in from the road in line with the large stone with the cross marked "Cole", which is visible at the rear of my truck.

The GPS readings for the stone are:

43.1077N 79.0883W


Edward and Bertha Laughton
There appear to be only two burials at this location, namely Edward Laughton and his wife Bertha "Bert" Laughton.

The rear of this stone is marked for another family "Black", that being on the west side of the stone.

As of this date there is no separate page for Edward Laughton or other siblings of John Laughton 1829. As the project is now expanding past the initial "direct line" record, the Family Tree Era listing will be expanded to include the additional members.  The primary members have already been included on the Digital Family Tree which will also be expanded (probably in sections) to include more information on the lines under the John Laughton 1801 and John Laughton 1829 siblings.

 


Edward Laughton Marker
Edward Laughton
July 24, 1876 - October 3, 1970

As noted above, Edward and Bertha had 2 3 sons (Reid, Norman and Bruce).  Bruce died in 1904 before the Edward Laughton plot existed and so was buried at this grandfather's plot.

There is no information at this time about Reid and Norman


Bertha "Bert" Laughton Marker
Bertha L. Laughton
May 11, 1880 - November 10, 1964

The "L" is for the maiden name "Loosley".

 

Copyright 2004 - 2009 Richard Van Wyck Laughton
on behalf of the Laughton Families
http://www.richardlaughton.com     http://rlaughton.googlepages.com/     http://laughton.tel

Now Available on the Telnic Network by Name.Year
http://ancestors.laughton.tel/

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