detail of a Celtic cross grave monument with a US flag and an Irish flag in the background

Winter Lecture Series 2026
The Blue and the Green: The Irish of Portland in the Civil War Era

Saturday, February 28, 2025
1:30pm
University of Southern Maine, Portland

It's our 16th lecture season! Join us for the 2nd of 3 engaging talks packed with fascinating history and great stories about New England history.

Matthew Jude Barker will bring an amazingly transformative era in Portland history to life, discussing events including the Great Hunger, immigration, Neal Dow and prohibition, bootlegging and crime, the Portland Rum Riot, the Know-Nothings and nativists, Irish occupations, abolition, the railroad, the Panic of 1857, the war years, the Fenians, the Great Fire of July 4, 1866, and the dedication of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

Our lectures are free, and donations are gratefully accepted! And our skilled bakers make gravestone cookies for you to nibble while you listen. This is the second in our Winter Lecture Series.

Email us easterncemetery@gmail.com if you have any questions.

Subterranean Celebrity: Huse Family

Died 1827 to 1864

Huse granite posts in Section A, photo by Ron Romano

Huse monument posts in Eastern Cemetery with a slab sketched on top

Huse granite posts and sketch of imagined stone slab, drawn by Ron Romano

Only two granite posts remain on the Huse family plot. When it was installed after James’ death in 1864 (6 years after Eastern Cemetery was closed to new burials unless there was room in a family plot), the posts held up a long stone slab. Due to the resemblance of modern roadside signs, Ron Romano, Cemetery Historian, coined this style: "billboard." The inscribed slab is long gone, but the slots in the posts confirm its status.

We can assume from burial records that the slab was inscribed with seven names. James, his wife, and five of their children. A house carpenter, he was also a founding member of the Maine Charitable Mechanic Association established in 1815, and later served as Vice President.

James Huse
born September 19, 1779,
died January 9, 1864, ae 84

Lydia Lowell, his wife
born June 24, 1779,
died May 16, 1858, ae 78

Emeline
born October 17, 1804,
died October 7, 1843, ae 38

Lydia L.
born August 16, 1806,
died October 23, 1834, ae 28

James
born September 30, 1808,
died August 9, 1827, ae 18

George L.
born December 6, 1812,
died May 6, 1831, ae 18

Joseph L.
born August 14, 1815,
died, October 24, 1842, ae 27

To visit the Huse family plot posts, follow Funeral Lane past the Dead House. Walk toward the flagpole, and take a left about halfway there. Carefully cross over 15 rows to A-15-09.

During our project to transcribe stones, we did not record any information about this plot except for a note that it had 2 posts. It wasn’t until Ron Romano put the puzzle together that we understood that those 2 posts were vital remaining pieces of the original Huse family billboard monument!

Read more about billboard monuments or about how James Huse was involved in an 1834 scandal related to the Third Congregational Church in Ron Romano's book, Billboard Monuments of Maine.

Thank you to our cemetery historian Ron Romano for photos and the write-up. Suggest your own subterranean celebrity! Just send an email—it doesn't take much (basic vitals, plot location, and or photo) to make a nice little story. An index of all of our Subterranean Celebrities is available.

Portland History Docents 2026 – Last Call

The program starts on Thursday, February 26! There’s still time to apply, and it’s only $50 if you are accepted. Experience training sessions and visits to all the participating sites (yes, Spirits Alive is participating!) during the 10-week full program. Learn about the 11 historic sites and how you can become a PHD at Portland History Docents.

It’s our 20th Year!

20 years ago, a small group of cemetery, gardening, and history enthusiasts gathered under the direction of Christina White to form Spirits Alive. We’ve come a long way, baby! Thank you to all of our volunteers over the years who have helped us come such a long way in protecting, preserving, promoting, and providing education about this fascinating, sacred, and historic outdoor museum, the Eastern Cemetery.

SA Swag

Guess what cemetery fan group has its own shirts, caps, playing cards, and tote bags? Spirits Alive does, that’s who! Visit us on Zazzle to view all of our products. Please know that proceeds go directly back to Spirits Alive to help us fund our work to keep the Eastern Cemetery cared for and to teach others about its wonders.

Support Eastern Cemetery

You can help Spirits Alive keep the Eastern Cemetery alive for generations to come. Through your support, you can help us, an ALL-VOLUNTEER organization, to continue to: