Cemetery

[Autocar]

I was cutting white oak northwest of Wapakoneta Ohio today and I came across a cemetery it set on a high ridge looking over the Auglaize river and a four acre bottom field. Some of the dates was 1805 and the landowner told me there was four sival war veterans and the rest was local folks. He also said there was one date of 1740's and as a kid played back there and groundhogs would dig dens in the bank and it wasn't unusual to see bones laying in there diggings. Also said his dad remembers the county burying folks from the county home that was paupers. As I stood there looking at the stones I was in wonderment of the storys that was buried there.

[WV Sawmiller]

AC,

   My family had/has a monument business down in N. Fla and I grew up working in all the local cemeteries. The style of monument changed over time and I could pretty well gauge the age from a distance just seeing the monuments. They used to be taller and obelisk styles. We have an old cemetery near here where several of the original Irish settlers were buried and a single monument often marks 3-4 graves and mentions "Came from Claire County Ireland". Many of our monuments would have "Gone but not forgotten" on them but there might be a 20" dbh red oak growing out of the grave. There are lots of family cemeteries here. Many were just chiseled out on flat stones. There is a confederate soldier buried at one a couple miles from us.

   In Norway the headstones often had a saying "Thank's for the Help". In Okinawa Japan the oldest graves were caves in the limestone with stones stacked to close the grave. Newer ones were called Turtleback and were actually supposed to represent a woman's womb symbolizing the dead returned to the womb. At Obon (local holiday) I think the eldest daughter was traditionally supposed to go in an clean the bones and an extra plate was set at the dinner table.

   I saw graves in Cameroon in west Africa up in the mountains in the semi-desert region near Chad and Nigeria where they had terraced farms like you see in Asia on the Inca regions in South America. The topsoil was thin and the mountains were stone so the body would be laid out, surrounded by and covered by stones basically making above ground graves. In Ethiopia we saw a "Cry" (funeral) in progress and every attendee was carrying a piece of wood to be added to the funeral pyre.

  Cemeteries definitely are a trip through history. One of my favorite saying on a headstone was at Six Flags over Ga (dummy monument) that said "I told you I was sick".

[Sixacresand]

Sad thing is most the stories have been forgotten.

[coxy]

makes one think how many you drive/walk over in the woods and never know that there there

[Kbeitz]

We have an old cemetery a few miles from here that has not been touched
for I'm guessing 100 years. It's in Girardville Pa.



 



 



 

[sawguy21]

The first cemetery in our area is just down the road from us, many of the original settlers are buried there. The story of the Overlanders 1862 is incredible.

[ozarkgem]

Nothing brings up life's regrets like a walk through a cemetery.

[sandhills]

We have an old one much like what Kbeitz posted on an old sand trail about 10 miles away, one civil war vet that I know of for sure but many of the headstones are early 1800's, leaning against trees that have grown and are babies that didn't make it.  I need to have a talk with Jim Rogers to see how to go about taking care of it, as old/unused as it is you still see fresh flowers placed there from time to time.

[Woodhauler]

My great grandfather new of one in my old home town, but oldtimers got him and we never could find it. have a good idea where but have never located it.

[Blake22]

We have a section in our city cemetery with quite a few civil war soldiers graves in it.  There's an old mansion in town that was used for a hospital during the Battle of Olustee. None of the markers have names or dates on them.

[TKehl]

There are a few in my neck of the woods.  We "rediscovered" several by looking at old plat maps and are trying to raise awareness with the current landowners.  However, unless deeded as a cemetery, I'm not sure what protections really exist?

We have a slim chance of having one on part of our land.  It's supposed to be in the next section east, however, I can't find it on any old maps, and the oldest (of 7) marker dates belongs to someone who used to own part of the ground we have now. 

My wife is a genealogy buff that has since expanded to local history. 

[coxy]

TKehi just wondering why would you want one on your property   just me but I would never live by one either I don't even like walking around in them

[TKehl]

Not saying I'm excited or want it there.  However, if it is there, I'd like to respect it and provide access to any descendants. 

The property in question started as 120 acres that got split in 4 pieces.  We have 66 acres of it owned and another 44 acres rented.  The rest went to two house lots.  Of course I've been all over the land and have never found a straight run of Cedar, stones, daffodils, or any other trace so... probably not there.

The small family and community cemeteries are easy to "lose" to time.  I know a few where cattle have busted up the stones while grazing and even one where a house was built on top unbeknownst to the owner.  If one is found on our land, I would want to fence the cattle out and keep the brush down out of respect.

[Autocar]

Tkehl around here they stack the stones in a pile and farm the ground. ive already seen old stones used for a stone path to the chicken house. I don't think it should be aloud, not much respect in my mind.

[Ron Scott]

When I was the Gauley District Ranger on the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia, we often found old grave sites on National Forest land. Families often had family burials on their private property years ago prior to when their property transferred to National Forest land.

When we would find these old family cemetery sites I would have the grave sites brushed out, the rustic grave markers restored where possible and then have a picket fence placed around the sites to protect them from our logging operations etc.

In some cases we were able to locate some family's next of kin and they always appreciated being informed of their long lost family cemetery location and our efforts to protect the site. Once found, we let them continue on with the grave site's maintenance.

[Ianab]

One thing that surprises a lot of visitors to the Cook Islands is the local custom of burying late family members, basically in front Garden. So as your ride around the Island there is constant line of little cemetery plots along the side of the road. Some quite elaborate, especially if it was an important elder (they get a roof over their grave etc). Most are well tended and maintained by the surviving family, although others seem to have been forgotten (family moved away etc). Picture in the article below show a pretty common scene. There are also traditional cemeteries for the people that prefer that.

You don't notice it after a while as it's just part of the landscape, but most foreigners comment on it,

http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/blogs/are-we-there-yet/5177057/Loved-ones-buried-in-the-back-yard

[Kbeitz]

The cemeterys in Dominican Republic is like little city's with many
streets. All with little houses.



 

[enigmaT120]

I love those old cemeteries.  They're peaceful, usually pretty in a run-down way, and nobody bugs me.

[petefrom bearswamp]

I established a cemetery of sorts on my property.
2 dogs, 1 cat and some of my parents ashes.
couple of big boulders for markers.
When marking timber I found a couple of old plots in second growth stands.
1 old cemetery on state land near me that is tended sporadically by the relatives.
New flags every memorial day on the vets graves.