I dropped by the Conway Cemetery this morning, the day after Memorial Day, and was pleased to see the site well cared for and the stones decorated with flowers, flags, and markers for veterans. As part of our ongoing research into Conway’s memorials, I wanted to share what we have found so far about one of the veterans listed on the Conway Honor Roll on the library grounds.
There are two names with stars next to them indicating that they died during their time in the service. This is a good example to point out both the strengths and the limitations of the resources available through the Conway Public Library. We have a special library edition of Ancestry.com with access to a vast collection of documents.
The photo below is from the Find-A-Grave website for Charlie E. Moulton.
The death date for him on the stone (and other records as we will see) is 1918 but is recorded as 1908 on the Find-A-Grave website. That is an easy mistake to make and we will follow up and fix that.
It is also a little tricky to find this stone. While it is in the location on the website (plot A1), its actually carved on the back (facing west) of another stone marked Cooledge that faces west like most of the other stones. Some details about Charlie Moulton and his family can be explored in the 1910 census (click on the image to enlarge it).
His father Lumen was a finisher at the spool mill and his mother was named Carie, spelled Carrie on the gravestone. The census also tells us that many of his neighbors also worked at the spool mill or the saw mill. From the draft registration card we can see that he was born in Albany, NH on April 13, 1896 and at the time of his draft he was a cook.
Following this link we can see
a Charles Edward Moulton, coalheaver, New York division, died April 20, 1918 at marine hospital, Stapleton, NY from pneumonia, next of kin, Mrs. Carrie Moulton, Conway NH. Perhaps this was the so called "Spanish Flu" that killed millions in 1918? More on this and the other folks on the memorial later.
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