Sometimes it's easy to forget what the life of a famine immigrant must have been like. While searching for my g-g-g grandfather George Boylen's birthplace in Ireland I found the graves of his two sisters in Mount Calvary in Boston, MA. One grave answered my question of where my family came from: Louth. The other grave gave me a reason to reflect. It reads:Mary Boylen, Died August 8, 1892, Aged 57 years. This stone is erected in her memory by her loving mistress, Mary E. Holmes, in whose household she was a blessing for 27 years. Well done thou good and faithful servant. Enter thou into the joy of the Lord.
Even in her death she was still a servant taking orders from her mistress! Mary was a maid in a very tony home on Chestnut Street on Boston's Beacon Hill. I'm sure this stone was a way of showing affection for Mary but its amazing how it looks in the hindsight of history. (Double click on the photo to read the inscription for yourself.)
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