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Special to The Reminder A few months ago, Wanda Roberge conducted an estate sale at 54 Hampden Rd. for Barbara Brown, owner of said house. In the basement, she found a mystery . Calling Bruce Moore, the past president of the East Longmeadow Historical Commission, Wanda explained her predicament. She wanted him to investigate this mystery. Once at the house, Bruce followed Wanda with his flashlight into the unfinished basement. In the dim light, Wanda and Bruce spotted two shadows. Bruce stepped closer, and the shapes came into focus. They were grave markers for Adelaide and Willie Arnold. Bruce turned the mystery over to John Perkins, associate member of the Historical Commission and expert genealogist. He gave John a scrap of paper that read, "Enos and Mary Arnold; Adelaide and Willie Arnold, died 1866," with two questions: Who were these children, and why were the markers in the basement of this home? John believed that Enos and Mary were Willie and Adelaide's parents, so he hunted for clues. He found a deed to a piece of land in Somers, Conn., which Enos' father Samuel passed down to him. Mary Indicott lived on land near his and later became his wife. John searched ancestry.com for census records to determine when Adelaide and Willie were born. First, he checked the 1850 census, where Mary, Enos and seven children were listed, but Adelaide and Willie weren't there. In 1860, however, Adelaide and Willie were listed at ages 8 and 4. John finally had birth years -- 1852 and 1856. The next step was to go to Somers North Cemetery, for the Arnolds were born and died in Somers. Three generations of the Arnolds' gravestones were there -- including Adelaide and Willie. This strange finding intrigued John, which prompted another question: Why were there markers in the cemetery if the stones were in the basement of the house at Hampden Road? John decided to call Wayne Bickley, a resident of Somers, who is an associate member of the East Longmeadow Historical Commission to help him solve this mystery. Next stop: Somers City Hall! Adelaide's and Willie's birth and death certificates would be there. John and Wayne found the exact dates of each and, more importantly, why the children died. There was an epidemic of diphtheria and croup during the winter of 1865-66. Many children died of these diseases. Adelaide died of diphtheria and croup on March 11, 1866, and Willie died of diphtheria on March 26 in the same year. Juliett Arnold, their sister, died because of this epidemic in the winter months of 1865. Wayne found the Arnold land in Somers, Conn., on a map dating 1869. Part of the mystery was solved when he and John dug up an old newspaper article about the daughter of Enos and Mary Arnold, Mary J. (Arnold) Hills, and Myron Hills. They owned a piece of land given to Myron by his father Luther in 1855. That land happened to be at 54 Hampden Rd. John and Wayne surmised that, in memory of her young siblings, Mary J. had grave markers made. When Mary J. and Myron Hills moved to Chester, the stones were left forgotten in their old house. The stones remained disregarded and neglected . until now. They have been restored from their former condition and will be presented to the Somers Historical Society on Oct. 11 at 10 a.m. on 11 Battle St. in Somers, Conn. All are welcome to see the grave markers of the young Arnold children. The mystery of the grave markers has been solved! | ||||||
