Moses Carpenter died in 1889 and is buried in Linthorpe Cemetery, Middlesbrough in the north east of England.

On the face of it this seems an unremarkable story, until you go behind the name and realise he was a Native American Indian and has become part of local history.

Moses Carpenter - The Middlesbrough Mowhawk

Ska-Run-Ya-Te,  his real name, was born in a Tuscarora, Ontario, Canada in 1854, as a member of the Mohawk tribe.

He came to Middlesborough in 1889 as part of a travelling medicine show.

Moses and a few colleagues provided entertainment for the crowds as teeth were extracted and potions applied by showman Sequah, the leader of the show.

Sequah was however an Englishman, whose real name was William Hannaway Rowe.

Reports from the day indicate that the arrival of the painted caravan and associated show was quite a spectacle attracting large crowds wherever it set up camp.

Sadly for Moses he developed a fever shortly after the show arrived in Middlesbrough in the August of 1889. He died soon after, on the 15 August in the North Riding Infirmary in the town.

Three days later a funeral took place at St Pauls Church. Lining the route from the church to the cemetery was an estimated 15,000 people, thought to be one of the largest gatherings for a funeral in the town.

The poem inscribed on his gravestone was written by a local girl called Mary Charlotta Parvin.

Recent restoration work has been carried out on the gravestone following decay and vandalism.

A campaign is ongoing to get the body of Moses Carpenter repatriated.

Our thanks to the Friends of Linthorpe Cemetery for their help with this article.

Can you add to the story of the Mohawk in Middlesbrough?  Let us know via the comments area below or via the contact us page.

Further information

The Quack Doctor - Sequah – a Victorian Celebrity Quack

Between the A9 and the Cromarty Firth in the far north of Scotland is the Rosskeen burial ground .

Roskeen Cemetery, Invergordon, Rosshire, surrounds a disused presbyterian church.  Although the church is now boarded up, the cemetery is still in use.

Rosskeen Burial Ground, Scotland

The church was built in 1830-32 by James Smith on the site of an earlier chapel.

The church was repaired and altered by Andrew Maitland in 1853.

In the extensive grounds of the church is a small, quite insignificant building, which is the last resting place for the Munro’s of Newmore and Culrain.

Munro memorial. Rosskeen Burial Ground, Scotland

Said to have been erected in 1664 and restored in 1908 this building is the Munro Mausoleum or chapel.

You can read more about this mausoleum on our sister site – Heritage and History.

Recorded Graves

We have been unable to ascertain if there is a current gravestone recording or preservation project for Rosskeen cemetery but there are a few resources which list many of the Rosskeen graves.

Oddquine.co.uk – Unsure if this is an exhaustive list but there are thumbnail images of the graves along with names of the interred.

Oddquine.co.uk – WW1 War Graves of Rosskeen Cemetery.

The Invergordon Archive - Gives some very useful background information of the church and it’s surrounding area.  Some local names are mentioned.

Further information

Canmore ID 13618
Site Number NH66NE 13.00
NGR NH 68837 69250
Council HIGHLAND
Parish ROSSKEEN
Former Region HIGHLAND
Former District ROSS AND CROMARTY
Former County ROSS AND CROMARTY

Highland council – Information about the site

The Invergordon Archive

The Clan Munro of Foulis

Dunning St Serf’s Church Grave Yard Survey is a record of memorial inscriptions on gravestones in the churchyard.

Carefully cleaning a gravestone

This survey also including wall plaques in the church and inscriptions on the stained glass windows, was compiled by members of the Dunning Parish Historical Society in the summer of 1993.

The first file contains a list of all the surnames which appear on gravestones in St Serf’s churchyard, and the number of the stone(s) on which each appears. The other files contain a description of each stone.

Each stone number is preceded by a letter which denotes in which part of the churchyard the stone lies.

Dunning St. Serf’s grave yard survey

Lanercost priory is the resting place of Li Yuan Chia, a modern artist from China who made his home in the Village of Bankside on Hadrian’s Wall in Cumbria.

Gravestone of Li Yuan Chia, Artist

One of the first significant modern artists to emerge from China during the 20th century, he made an unforgettable impact on the local community.

In 1968 Li met Cumbrian painter Winifred Nicolson,  she became his patron and persuaded him to leave London for a more remote location near her own home.

Li converted The Banks, a farm building at Bankside, near Brampton. The work, which he carried out himself, also included a gallery, library &  theatre.  He spent 25 years here until his death in 1994.

Born in China in 1929, Li was educated in Taiwan. He worked and exhibited in Italy before moving to London in 1963.

Li died at the Eden Valley Hospice in Carlisle of intestinal cancer.

He was buried at Lanercost Priory in the valley below Banks, with both an Anglican and a Chinese ceremony at the graveside.

His grave in Lanercost cemetery is marked by a tall stone inscribed with his Time-Life-Space emblem carved in local red sandstone by his friend the sculptor Bryant Fedden.

The LYC Foundation

The LYC foundation is a charitable organisation devoted to the care and conservation of the work of Li Yuan-chia.

Their long-term project is to create a museum of Li’s work in the house at Banks, Cumbria with plans to restore the building and re-open it as a permanent exhibition of Li’s life and work. The project will include a space for temporary exhibitions, literary and musical events, living quarters for the Museum’s curator, a studio and living accommodation for an artist/poet in residence, and a garden/ car park.

More information
BBC Radio 4 programme synposis – A programme on BBC Radio 4, broadcast on 22nd December 2009 looked at the life and career of Li Yuan Chia.
Li Yuan-Chia ( LYC ) Foundation

The owner of the Carlislehistory.co.uk website has now completed recording the names on the gravestones in Carlisle’s Richardson Street cemetery, the city’s main burial place since 1855.

A surname index has been produced to the 24,000 names recorded.
 Very useful for those tracing relatives or carrying out family history research.

The site operates a very basic A – Z index and searching the index is free of charge.

More detailed information, such as full gravestone transcription, map and set of pictures are available for a small charge.

Further information

Carlisle City Council Bereavement Services Information about Carlisle Cemetery and details of other municipal cemeteries. Details of opening hours and other services available

Historical searches can be carried out upon request, usually free of charge.