The Genealogy & Family History Social Network
Why I Love Old Cemeteries
Finding old and lost cemeteries is one of my favorite hobbies. I live to discover them.
"Who cares!", some may say.
How about the descendents of those long buried and mourned, but not forgotten? How about someone like me who cherishes the history and appreciates that a life was lived, enjoyed or despaired, and then passed away from this earth?
Only a few times have I been blessed to find a lost cemetery in the woods, the trees grown thick around the fence line and the headstones standing like silent soldiers, protecting the final resting place of the person beneath it.
I touch the headstones and close my eyes, trying to imagine a family standing there, the tears for their loved one falling down soft cheeks and being wiped away with a gloved hand or a calloused hand. Or maybe it is an old immigrant who no one knew when they were born so all that is on the headstone is a name, a death date and their age.
Touching that headstone for me is a moment where the boundaries of time can fall away. I am touching right then, the stone, which may have been chiseled in the 1800's or the 1700's. I am touching the stone that other hands set in the ground. Am I brushing the space where tears fell or a small child kissed? Am I standing where a mother kneeled in prayer or a father fought back his emotions?
Our old cemeteries are our history as much as any building or battlefield. Unfortunately we are losing these precious pockets of history to highways, shopping malls and housing additions.
Please visit your ancestor's graves and keep their final resting place an active memory. Don't become the person who, when one day your child or grandchild asks, "Where is great-grandmother buried?" and you must answer, "I don't remember."
"Who cares!", some may say.
How about the descendents of those long buried and mourned, but not forgotten? How about someone like me who cherishes the history and appreciates that a life was lived, enjoyed or despaired, and then passed away from this earth?
Only a few times have I been blessed to find a lost cemetery in the woods, the trees grown thick around the fence line and the headstones standing like silent soldiers, protecting the final resting place of the person beneath it.
I touch the headstones and close my eyes, trying to imagine a family standing there, the tears for their loved one falling down soft cheeks and being wiped away with a gloved hand or a calloused hand. Or maybe it is an old immigrant who no one knew when they were born so all that is on the headstone is a name, a death date and their age.
Touching that headstone for me is a moment where the boundaries of time can fall away. I am touching right then, the stone, which may have been chiseled in the 1800's or the 1700's. I am touching the stone that other hands set in the ground. Am I brushing the space where tears fell or a small child kissed? Am I standing where a mother kneeled in prayer or a father fought back his emotions?
Our old cemeteries are our history as much as any building or battlefield. Unfortunately we are losing these precious pockets of history to highways, shopping malls and housing additions.
Please visit your ancestor's graves and keep their final resting place an active memory. Don't become the person who, when one day your child or grandchild asks, "Where is great-grandmother buried?" and you must answer, "I don't remember."
Views: 39
Comment
-
Comment by Glenn Roy Browne on August 16, 2009 at 12:12pm
-
Good blog. How can you not love an old cemetery. I have been taking photographs of old family grave sites, some lost, some abandoned, here in Northern Minnesota. Our Kittson Historical Society is going to publish a book listing every cemetery and directions to find them. Time and again I learn about old graves and the story behind them. Here is one I would like to share with you, a lover of old cemeteries. About 1880 a Civil War veteran was traveling in Northern Minnesota on a train and he took sick. The train stopped at a little town and he was taken off so that he could get some care. He did not recover and died two or three days later. He had no identification on him other than the fact he was a veteran. This area was just opening up because of the new railroad so very little had been established. He was taken about a mile north east of the town and buried on the top of a small hill beside a creek. It is a lovely spot with a prairie view in each direction. His burial was the start of what became Hillcrest Cemetery. Much later a marker was placed over the grave - "Here lies an unknown soldier". In the 125 plus years since he was placed here, he has been joined by a large group of old pioneers and even more recent members of farm familes. He rests in good company.
-
Comment by Doug Tallman on July 11, 2009 at 7:28am
-
Sadly, around our area from time to time you hear of a new housing development going in and the builders trying to hide that they found an old forgotten cemetery.
-
Comment by Anita Payne on July 11, 2009 at 6:40am
-
I have to agree, I was at my local cemetery just a few days ago and right down the back were several graves that were so unloved. One had a family group all headstones damaged and broken but still able to be read. a son died aged 17 in 1882 daughter 23 not long after then father aged 43. So young and no one cares any more.
© 2024 Created by IIGSExecDirector.
Powered by
You need to be a member of Genealogy Wise to add comments!
Join Genealogy Wise