Bartlett Adams topic of Pejepscot Genealogical Society meeting April 9

 BRUNSWICK — The Pejepscot Genealogical Society will hold its next monthly meeting in the Morrell Meeting Room of the Curtis Memorial Library, Sunday, April 9 at 2 p.m.

Maine author Ron Romano will speak about Bartlett Adams (1776 – 1828), who moved to Portland in the fall of 1800 and established the area’s first stone-cutting shop. Adams supplied hearthstones and mantle pieces to the area’s homes, but his more lasting  — and visible — impact can be found in the early cemeteries throughout southern Maine. His busy shop produced hundreds of slate and marble gravestones, a nice variety of which survive today in the historic burial grounds of Brunswick, Harpswell, and Topsham.

Ron Romano leads cemetery tours and serves on the board of directors for Spirits Alive, the “Friends of Eastern Cemetery” in Portland. His original research on the life of Bartlett Adams and his surveys of Adams’ gravestones at more than 250 Maine cemeteries led to the publication of his first book, “Early Gravestones in Southern Maine: The Genius of Bartlett Adams” (The History Press, 2016).  His new book, about the 350-year-old Eastern Cemetery in Portland, will be released by The History Press later this year. The public is welcome to attend this presentation about a local master stonecutter and his legacy, left in stone. There will be a brief social period, both before and after the speaker.  A business meeting will follow.

For more information contact John Webster, PGS President at (207) 833-5430.