On Saturday Robert, Diana, and Julia went on a road trip to Massachusetts to discover some of the history of the Grout`s in the area. One of our first stops was the house owned by my Great Grandfather, Braman Grout who lived 1833 to 1920 in the town of Leicester which the locals pronounce “Lester“. The home is now cut up into retail shops but much of the original architecture is still present. 

Braman was a Deacon of the nearby First Congregational Church where we ran into a rummage sale and our first chance to meet with and talk to people about the history of the area. One of the people there had the keys to the church and gave us a tour. More photos will follow! 

Not far from town was Pine Grove cemetery where we searched for Grout family gravestones. Earlier we went to a cemetery in Spencer where we found many Grout`s but none I recognized. Finally in Pine Grove we located George Grout`s, brother of Braman. 

Just on the other side of George we found Braman and Catherin`s. 

As we planned the trip Julia told me she didn`t want to go to a lot of cemetery`s but after the first one Julia said she was OK with searching cemetery`s 

We loaded a bunch of pics from today on Facebbok 

Here is the house on Olean street in Worcester where my father (Milton) grew up 

Right across the street is a lake, no wonder dad won all those swimming medals! 

Today we went to Wayland, formerly Sudbury, where Capt. John Grout acquired a grist mill in 1643. This is the spill way at the head of the mill pond 

Here is a painting of that mill 

Not far from the mill pond are 2 mill stones. One is said to be from the Wayland grist mill. 

Just a few miles down the road is the Wayside grist mill which was built much later and from stone 

Back in Wayland we went to the Grout / Heard house, built 1740 by Johnathan Grout one of our direct ancestors 

A member of the historical society let us in and gave the tour of the house. This is the front room which is the only part of the house known to be from 1740. The rest may all be additions. 

We loaded a bunch more pics from today on Facebbok 

Our last day and we are headed for Watertown where the Grout family started in 1634-ish. But first a stop at Salem to check out some of the history of mother`s side of the family! Here`s the Salem Witch Museum 

This street sign is the only marker in town (we were told) indicating Judge Sewell once lived here. 

Diverting from witchery we checked out the wharfs where all the Privateers sailed from during the Revolutionary war. (Hmmm, was everyone crooked in this town?) 

Off to Watertown, once a small village a day`s ride from Boston, now an indistinguishable suburb. There’s nothing left here of the Grout`s although it`s very possible our first American grandmother is buried in this cemetery, her marker long destroyed by time. 

We know Mary Grout died sometime around 1641 to 1642 so this may be the spot 

As cars zip by this site I wonder if the motorists have any clue that many founding members of America slumber here? 

Last stop on our whirlwind tour, the very location of the first property owned by Capt. John Grout in the 1630`s. We all agreed it would have been so much fun to bring our metal detector with us! 

Well that`s all for this trip! Look for a lot more pictures on Facebook on Diana and Julia`s pages! 

Pictures are uploaded at 72 DPI. If you want to print any, please E Mail me and I will email you the full resolution version.