Carvers
Carvers
Backrounds of the Gravestone Carvers
Backrounds of the Gravestone Carvers
Carvers
Backrounds of the Gravestone Carvers
our non-profit celebrates our 27th anniversary!
welcome &
mission statement
Welcome to the website for the Walker-Blake Graveyard Restoration Project, Inc., (WBGRP) which is a non-profit 501(C)(3) corporation in Massachusetts. We were founded in 1995.
Our mission:
For the benefit of future generations, to preserve the graveyard using various restoration techniques and to protect the graveyard from further vandalism.
Prior to Memorial Day, the Veterans Memorial Marker Committee placed American flags next to Veteran gravestones in the Walker-Blake Graveyard! A wonderful way to pay respect and remember those who have served our country. Peter W. Thomson is Taunton’s veteran’s graves officer. Peter co-ordinates the placing American flags next to nearly 7,000 headstones in Taunton.
The flags are placed on graves going back to the Revolutionary War. Of course, there are other soldiers buried here who were members of the Militia. In the seventeenth century, any male between the ages of 16 and 65 where members of the town Militia.
In Taunton there are 62 cemeteries that have Veterans buried in them. Some are as small as one or two burials in a backyard. Some of the cemeteries are very large like St. Joseph’s and Mayflower Hill.
Peter who is an Iraq War Veteran enlists the help of volunteers from various groups and some individual people. Some of the groups are Boy and Girl Scouts and Veteran groups.
The flags are placed in a circular aluminum marker with a hole in it to support the flag. The aluminum markers feature a wreath design with the words “Veteran, Armed Forces, United States”.
As you walk around the graveyard, pause and reflect on those who have served in the armed services and in some cases paid the ultimate price.
August 28, 2021 from 11:00 am to Noon, Dr. Bill Hanna and Saria E. Sweeney, OCHM Program Coordinating director, will lead the tour of the graveyard.
August 28, 2021 from 11:00 am to Noon, Dr. Bill Hanna and Saria E. Sweeney, OCHM Program Coordinating director, will lead the tour of the graveyard.
April 21, 2020
Missing Markers page of the website has been updated!
2020
We have received a $5,750 grant from the Taunton River Stewardship Council! This grant was made in memory of Maryan Nowak who was a member of the TRSC and was on the Board of Directors o the WBGRP. This money will be used toward restoration of gravestones.
For many years I have researched our family history. The research brought me to Taunton, Massachusetts in 1988. At the Old Colony Historical Society I found information on ancestors who had lived in Taunton and where they were buried. With a copy of the Daughters of the American Revolution compilation of the "Eleven Cemeteries in Taunton", I visited the cemeteries of our ancestors. The Walker-Blake Graveyard is located in a remote area. The cemetery is situated on a rise that overlooks the Taunton River. A stone wall creates a border on all its’ four sides.
