Benjamin Paine 1713

fieldstone fieldstone before cleaning Paine fieldstones

BENJAMIN
PAINE 1713

footstone
no inscription

This is the oldest inscribed fieldstone (as opposed to slate) grave marker we know of on Cape Cod.

This fieldstone for years was flush to the ground and covered with lichen as shown in the top right photo. In October 2004 the stone was cleaned to reveal the inscription which indicates it is a headstone. There was another fieldstone flush to the ground about six feet to the north which most likely is the footstone.

In July 2005 the headstone was raised to its original upright position. This is shown in the top left photo. The footstone also was raised to its original upright position.

The bottom photo shows a grouping of Paine fieldstone headstones and footstones as follows:
Back left - Benjamin Paine (1713) headstone & footstone
Back right - Bennet Paine (1716) headstone (mother of Benjamin)
Front left - Benjamin Paine (1716/17) unmarked probable headstone (younger brother of Benjamin (1713))
Front center - Marcy Freeman (1736) headstone & footstone (grandchild of Bennet)
Front right - Barnabas Freeman (1736) headstone (grandchild of Bennet)

Eastham vital records confirm that Benjamin Paine was born February 22, 1696/7 the son of John and Bennet Paine and that he died December 15, 1713 at age 15.

Benjamin is buried next to his mother Bennet (1716) who is at Location 34 with a fieldstone grave marker.

A younger brother Benjamin (1716/17) was born in 1714 and named after his older deceased brother. He most likely is buried one row to the south in a row to the left of Marcy Freman (1736) at Location 32 and Barnabas Freman (1736) at Location 35. We think a fieldstone with no visible inscription marks the younger Benjamin's grave. The two Freemans are grandchildren of Bennet Paine.

The husband of Bennet and father of the two Benjamin Paines was John Paine who died in 1731 at age 70. He is buried in Orleans Cemetery which was part of Eastham until 1797.

LOCATION - No. 33 on EHS 1976 Cove survey map

MATERIAL - fieldstones

HEADSTONE - 20" W, 10" H, 5" D

FOOTSTONE - 8" W, 13" H, 4" D

CONDITION - lichen growth

COMMENTS - Headstone and footstone cleaned October 2004 and July 2005. Headstone cleaned with D/2 and treated with surface consolidant in October 2008.


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