The family gardens of stone

Old Union Cemetery Alfordsville, Daviess County, Indiana

Cemeteries are great places and I have thought so since childhood. In past blogs have told you how my grandmothers took me to lay flowers on many of the family graves and how I used to play around the headstones waiting for them.  To me they are my link to the past in a real and tangible way.  I can touch the stone, feel the letters, see the images, remember stories, and know that I am here because of the link I share with them.

Before FGS my family and I made a side trip home for a few days. It was a planned excursion, what was not planned was the death of my dad’s sister-in-law.  I did not want to add a sad entry to my family tree on that trip but I was prepared for it due to her illness. It is not an understatement to say I am thankful that she is now at peace and no longer in pain.

While I would have loved to see my cousins, aunt, and uncle under better circumstances it was still wonderful to visit with everyone.  My family is not one to sit around and stew or fret over things that are out of our control.  I was told not to sit around but that I should continue on to do my research like I had planned.

Part of my visit was dedicated to visiting family burial grounds over 2 counties. There were 4 more counties I skipped on this trip. This errand took on new meaning to me and my parents with the death of my aunt. Walking among the garden of stones and wondering about those who came before us.  Wondering about what is next for us too.

On the other hand it was a great scavenger hunt for my boys.  They love hearing about our military ancestors and when I informed them who we were searching for they were all in.  It quickly became a game to see who could find a family surname first and a fist pumping find when they located the magical ancestor first. My parents and husband were than a little amused.  Of course it leads to a lot of discussions even leading us to read the memorials for people who were not our relatives but had interesting information on their headstones.

I took images of many, many family members on those two days. Nine Cemeteries made for long, hot, sticky days but it was worth it. Below are a few that I wanted to share with you; the memorials for men and women that I have talked about here on the blog and who I have spent a lot of time researching and writing about.

Brothers Henry and Elias Arvin

Henry and Elias were born in Charles County, Maryland and eventually landed in Daviess and Martin Counties, Indiana via Washington County, Kentucky.  Both fought in the War of 1812 and lead what appeared to be full and active lives.  Henry and his wife Theresa Montgomery are buried at St. Rose Cemetery, Martin County while Elias and his wife Catherine Tinsh are buried at Old Union Cemetery, Daviess County. 

The two places cannot be any more different. Old Union is a beautifully up kept area with a white church and scenic farmland as the backdrop.  On the other hand St. Rose is on an off road wide spot off the side of a person driveway which unless you specifically went looking for it you would never know it was there. No church and no burials for almost 100 years.  Both, however, are still amazing places that are still being looked after. There were signs of restoration to the old stones that I was very happy to see.

Read more about them here and here 

Henry Arvin

Theresa (Montgomery) Arvin

In Memory of
Elias Arvin
Born
Mar 25, 1790
Died Apr 23, 1875
Aged

In Memory of
Cath Arvin
Wife of Elias Arvin
Died
Apr, 23, 1877
Aged
80 years

Father and Son James and William Cannon

James Cannon is one of my Revolutionary War soldiers. I have written about him and his service in South Carolina in the past. His son William is my direct line ancestor and I am lucky enough that they and William’s wife Mary Margret Smith were in the same row.  Even better, they were only a few plots down from Elias and his wife Catherine in Old Union Cemetery.

James Cannon
PVT
South Carolina
Troops
Rev. War

Gone Home
In Memory of
William
Cannon,
Born Oct. 15, 1797
Died Aug. 15, 1875
Aged
77 Yeart, 10 Mos

Mary Cannon
Wife of
Wm Cannon

Berthena Cannon Morris

Berthena was William Cannon’s daughter and the wife of Robert Morris and is interred at Truelove Cemetery, Martin County.  Many of you may remember that she is the “HauntedTombstone” story.  It took me a while to find her monument.  Longer than I anticipated actually for the pure simple reason that I was looking for a monument taller than me.  Well, it seems that nearly 30 years later I am taller than it now! Who would have guessed?

Berthena
Daughter of
Wm. & Mary
Cannon
Wife of
Robert
Morris
Born June 4, 1838
Died Mar. 22, 1909

Everett and Sylvia (Freeman) Combs

These are my great grandparents who are interred at Oak Grove Cemetery, Daviess County.  I wanted to post this picture since she was the subject my post about infant mortality.  The 6 tiny stones behind the main marker were very moving for my father and me.  These were siblings that according to my father, his father didn’t know about or remember. 

Dad told me about his father discovering them for the first time.  Can you imagine coming to visit your parent’s grave and discovering that you had brothers and sisters?  My grandfather was 5 when the first baby died.  He was 18 when the last one died, I just can’t imagine how he didn’t know.  Part of me wonders if they just didn’t tell people they were expecting after the first loss.

The dates are what I have uncovered in my research from death certificates, cemetery books, and family information.

Everett and Sylvia (Freeman) Combs with 6 children

Everett F.

Mar. 29, 1886

Nov. 7, 1970

Sylvia A. 

Oct. 5, 1891

Nov. 15, 1964

Back Row, left to right:

Kenneth 1928-1928

Gladys 11 April 1921 – 5 May 1921

Ruth 1920-1920

Front Row, left to right:

Robert 30 Sept 1933 – 16 October 1933

Infant 1927-1927

Pauline 12 June 1929 – 12 June 1929

FGS, Indiana, and my trip so far

Well, we made it!  Sorry that I have not posted since last week, but I had family needs arise that caused me not to be able to write like I wanted to.  Not a problem, let’s play catch up now shall we?

After much discussion we left last Friday night. Why drive it all in one day (Virginia to Indiana) if you don’t have to.  Left home on Friday evening and drove to the half-way point, Charleston, West Virginia.  That made a much nicer drive as we arrived into my hometown just after lunch time on Saturday.   The next 4 days where a whirl wind of family visits, library hops, and history opportunities for me and my kids. 

Sunday I actually drug the whole family around Martin County visiting 5 different cemeteries. It should have been 7, but I was nice and didn’t make them backtrack to the 2 we accidently skipped.  The boys thought this was fascinating.  We found ancestors that were Revolutionary war Soldiers, War of 1812 Soldiers, and Civil War Soldiers.  I showed the boy the “howling cat” tomb, which, incidentally, is a lot smaller than I remember it!  Seeing these markers for myself was a moving experience.  Yes, I had seen them in other people’s pictures and on find-a-grave, but there is nothing, NOTHING, like seeing these stones for yourself.

Monday was Daviess County day.  The morning was spent driving though Oak Grove Cemetery looking for my father’s ancestors.  We didn’t make it to the second cemetery, St. John’s, as we spent 4 hours at the first one.  Amazingly the caretaker was there mowing.  He rode over after he saw us wandering around (we knew where some of the markers are) and asked if he could help.  After talking to us for a few minutes he went and retrieved the “dead books” from his home.  One was the index, by last name, of every stone in the cemetery which appears to be updated every 10 years.  The other was the burial registry of all internments after 1955.  He wouldn’t let me take images of these pages (I asked…3 times) but I did get to see my grandparents’ entries and several aunts, uncles, and cousins entries. 

GRC Memorial
Vincennes, IN

After the hot and humid walk through the graveyard my dad, my boys, and I went to the local library.  This is where I made a couple great finds.  First off, lots of local indexes, records, and resources for multiple counties that I needed.  Most amazing of all was a typed up family history of the Brothers family, which was done by a local resident.  It looks amazing because, you know, it contains citations and footnotes!  I have not made it through the 150 page document, yet, but it looks like it gives me good sources and leads for 4 generations I didn’t know about!  This helps with my mother’s line, and made the family dinner with her cousins that night very interesting.

Tuesday was Knox County day, and the only thing I wanted to get on my whole trip, the Eliza Jane Manuscript.  For those of you have read my blog on and off you may recognize this name.  Eliza Jane was the baby sister of my great-grandfather.  She was the family historian that my grandmother received all her information through. In the genealogy library in Vincennes, Indiana there is a typed copy of her research journals that a cousin of mine created.  I skimmed it while I photocopied it and I can’t wait to devour it later.  Lots and lots of good things!

We took the boys over to the George Rogers Clark Memorial also.  They loved it, and I have to say it always takes my breath away.  If you get to go make sure you watch the video and have the ranger on duty take you inside the monument.  The murals inside are breath taking.  Plus, how else can you learn about the amazing capture of Fort Sackville during the Revolutionary War?

Wednesday was the drive from Southern Indiana to Fort Wayne.  My parents, the boys, and I registered quickly that afternoon and explored a bit.  They were all tired from the trip so I sent them back to the hotel while I stuck around the conference center.  I enjoyed meeting up with some fellow IDG people and being talked into writing a lot more.  I know, more, can you believe it? 

We all went over to the opening night social and had a good time talking.  I meet quite a few people, heard some interesting things, received good advice, and laughed so much!  The down side was that my kids did not get to bed (because I made them go) until after 10pm.  This was not a good thing as they were up at 7am.

Thursday, today, my first full day at the conference, and there is a lot of stuff!  We missed the keynote but it was more important for me to get my kids up and fed than it was to rush them here.  All 5 of us wandered around the exhibit hall and quickly checked out of the vendors.  I received my honorable mention certificate in Category II from the ISFHWE and had my picture taken. (WHOOT!)  Next we wandered over to Family Tree Magazine where I met Diana Haddad and Allison Dolan in person.  It is always great to meet people in the flesh after you have talked to them over email and phone in the past. 

My parents decided to take the DNA track today.  Dad said it was so he could understand what I was doing better.  Mom went with him even though she already knew all this.  She is a doctor after all.  The boys attended 2 lectures with me.  They were well behaved, I was thrilled.

First up was Tom Jones’s “Planning and Executing Efficient and Effective Research: A Case Study.” Even with the technical difficulties around the projector, it was a great presentation.  I enjoyed just sitting and listening to him present the family history, the evidence, and taking us step-by-step through the process.  It reminds me a lot of his new book.  Which, I absolutely love.  I had planned to have him sign a copy of my Mastering the Genealogical Proof, but I forgot it in the hotel room.  Good thing I have 2 more days.

After lunch I took the boys to the BCG Certification seminar.  This is something I really want to do.  I can’t explain it, almost like I want to prove I can do it.  Also, in my gut I feel like this can give the “new kid” some credibility.  I may be completely off base here, but I did learn a lot that will help me make that decision later. 

The boys did fine until about 4pm when they completely crashed and burned.  8 hours in a conference is pretty good for any small person you have to admit.  We were killing time in the exhibit hall waiting for my parents and the final straw was the brother on brother brawl at The Irish Ancestral Research Association.  You have to admit, that is kind of funny considering their ancestry.  However I had one in tears and the other fit to be tied after I grounded them from TV and video games for the night.  Luckily the grandparents showed up just then and whisked them away. 

So here I sit, in the media hub, getting ready to go wander around the booths again and waiting for the door prize drawings.  Feeling like I should go grab a drink too, after all someone has to come back and get me in a few hours.

Next FTF Post is up: fun in a cemetery

Fresh on the heels of my cemetery escapade yesterday comes my latest Family Tree Firsts post.  You can read all about a recent trip to a nearby cemetery here. 

I was a bit disappointed that the cemetery was locked, after the ranger told me it was open, but I enjoyed myself anyway.  My husband was very happy that I did not go ahead with my first inclination of scaling the brick wall.  Having to rescue your wife from a locked cemetery, or worse yet explain to an ER doctor why your wife broke her leg, did not sound like a fun idea to him.

Besides the large center stone I did take quite a few other photographs.  These were all taken at the main gate peering through with my zoom lens.  So, without further ado, here are the results from my first cemetery visit!

 

The Chancellorsville Family Cemetery

The front gate

 



 

Here are interred
George Chancellor, Esquire. (1785-1836)
of Chancellorsville
Son of John and Elizabeth (Edwards) Chancellor and
Grandson of John Chancellor (1726 – 1815) and his wife
Nee Jane Monroe. Aunt of President James Monroe.
In 1814 He Married
Ann (Lyon) Pound (1783-1860)
Only Daughter of James Lyon (1755-1836) of Falmouth, VA.
And his wife Nee Mary Longwill (1748-1794) of Cecil Co., MD.
Ann was the widow of Captain Richard Pound of Fairview who
Is also interred here. As a Wedding Gift her only Half
Brother, William Lorman, ESQ. (1764-1841) of Baltimore,
Erected the mansion called Chancellorsville in 1815-1816

Mary Edwards Chancellor

Wife of

John Thomas Frazer

Daughter of Major Sanford Chancellor

Born May 7, 1827

Died at Coventry

Spotsylvania County, VA

Oct 22 ?

 Rev. M.S.Chancellor

June 29. 1815,

Feb. 20. 1895.

 

"Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,

neither have entered into the heart

of man, the things which God hath

prepared for them that love Him."

 



(On Left)

Thomas Chancellor  

TR E

9 VA Cav

C.S.A.

1846-1864

 

(In Center)

In Memory of

My Mother

Lucie F. Chancellor

Wife of Rev. M.S.Chancellor

Died

Sept. 5, 1834

In The 37th Year of

Her Age

VES

 



 (In Foreground)

William R. Crady

TR. E

9 VA. Cav

C.S.A

 

(In Background)

On the left side:

George Edwards

1842-1887

Major of Cavalry

C.S.A

 

On the right side:

Melzi Sanford

1860-1925

At Rest

 

 



 Susan Margaret Chancellor

Wife of

Vespasian Chancellor

Born at Forest Hall Feb 19 1847

Daughter of

Major Sanford Chancellor

And His Wife

Frances Longwill Pound

Died at Fredericksburg VA.

Dec 28 1935

 

 

Crazy Ideas are my life

Today I had a completely crazy, yet horribly exciting, idea pop into my head. The next time I go home I want to map out a couple of the family cemeteries. Goofy right? But totally worth every minute of the pain it would be to do it!

 

I was searching between trees online trying to figure out ancestor relations between me and a couple other possible new cousins when it hit me. Over 1/2 of my Indiana ancestors are in 5 cemeteries. I know 5 may seem like a lot, but the area in Indiana I am looking at has nearly 200 that I know of, so 5 is really good in my book.

 

The ability to look at a map (with pictures maybe) and see how the families are laid out in the cemeteries would be great. If you can't tell, I am a very visual person. I have to see it, draw it myself usually, and then look it over in my head. That is the best way I learn. Write, draw, remember.

 

Maybe I can experiment with this idea on one of the smaller local cemeteries in my area of Virginia. See how I can make it more efficient before I go home... whenever that maybe.

 

Has anyone out there ever done anything like this?  Have any suggestions or tips? 

 

photo credit: Steve took it via photopin cc

Book Review and Contest Winner

I have discovered another podcast that I LOVE, oh yeah all caps LOVE.  It is Fieldstone Common by Marian Pierre-Louis.  This show covers New England history and genealogy through 1 hour interviews with people who have knowledge of this area.  So far there have been curators, archivists, authors, and genealogists on her show and we are only a little over a month in.

Her show is at 1pm EST Thursdays on Blogtalk Radio.  Until 2 weeks ago I had been unable to listen to it live as I was out running errands or at other appointments on those days.  I was so excited that I would actually be home for one!  When the time came to listen I turned my computer up all the way and sat down to do some work at my kitchen table.

That particular show was an interview with John Thomas Grant on his book Final Thoughts: Eternal Beauty in Stone.  Until this show I was unfamiliar with his work, but I love taking pictures; much to the amusement of my family.  My husband sighs when we are out and tells the boys to pause while "mom is being artistic again."  While I am not a great photographer, I have admiration for those who are and enjoy looking at books of pictures to study their techniques.   

 

Mr. Grant is a cemetery photographer and listening to him tell his stories of uncovering headstones, techniques to bring the marble to life, and the reasons he does what he does held me in rapt attention.  I decided half way through the program I was going to call in for the chance at winning the free book; I had to see it!

The time came to call, and imagine my surprise when I found myself on the radio!  I wasn't sure if she was talking to me at first, but decided since no one else answered I must be live... on the air... gulp.  This is when I discovered my voice goes up in pitch when I get excited and I think I sound like some sort of spunky elf on the radio.  There is not future as a regular podcaster for me!  Well, not unless I can bring my voice down an octave that is. 

Marian mailed me my copy and I received it late last week.  It is amazing.  He is a phenomenal photographer and there are times where he makes them so life like I am waiting for the statues to turn around!  Each page also contains words from the headstones he has photographed, and it adds to the flavor and ambiance of the book.  I recommend it to anyone who is interested in photography, graveyards, or beautiful moments. 

Fieldstone Common is available through iTunes as well as the website.  Go check it out!

Week 9 of Abundant Genealogy

Week 9 – Cemeteries: Genealogists understand the full value of cemeteries and appreciate them in ways most others can’t see. Share a cemetery or cemetery experience for which you are most thankful. What makes this place special? What does it mean to you and your family history?

There are 2 cemeteries that my grandmothers took me to as a child.  One held the ancestors on my father’s side, the other my mother’s side.  For my father, most of his direct family can be found at Oak Lawn in Washington, Daviess County, Indiana.  My mother’s family is at Truelove in Rutherford Township, Loogootee, Martin County, Indiana. While I do remember making a few visits with my Grandmother Combs to various plots, it is my visits with my Grandmother Arvin that I have the most memorable experiences.  I wrote about one of these in my Family TreeFirst Blog.

Besides Berthena Cannon Morris’s grave, I have to say I learned to be comfortable around headstones in that cemetery.  A trait that not many people have and one I have not succeeded in instilling in my oldest son.  I guess when a graveyard is your play area for many years, you don’t think much about it.  That may seem like an odd statement to make, but I have several friends who have the same memories.

For them it was holding family reunions at the family church and playing the church yard with their cousins.  My experience was with the 4-H.  My local club met in the basement of Truelove church, and after snack we would have a break to run off energy.  The older kids would play ball, the younger kids playing tag, with the adults yelling at us not to climb so roughly on the old stones. 

I can also remember attending more than a handful of burials there.  At Oak Lawn, there was only my grandmother’s burial that I can remember attending. It may sound strange, maybe even a bit odd, but those times were more like homecomings in my head.  Those that I had lost were now resting with those they had loved and lost too.  A circle was complete, every beginning must have an ending, and witnessing them was always profoundly moving to me.  I can remember each burial I attended, what the weather was like, what I wore, who was with me, and what I felt.  There are only so many days in my life that I can say that about.

Walking through these gardens of stone I feel a connection to my past, and enjoy looking ahead to my future.

*Image: faithmonsoon via photopin cc