Finding Hidden Treasures in Cemeteries:
Being a Professional Land Surveyor for over 30 years now, I have often had a chance to
find a cemetery (burial place) in the mountains, hills, valleys and even behind a crowded,
busy, shopping center where one was rumored to exist but not found. I have also had to
determine/find the true boundaries of the cemetery, find grave sites and markers outside
or inside the limits and try to find owners, etc. A few tips are worth sharing.
1. Is there possibly a cemetery nearby the old farm house where the family existed years
ago? The answer is probably yes. Find the one main old home location where the parents of
your lineage in that area lived, and there may be an old cemetery there (Unless there is a
church nearby, usually built or paid for in part by the main family and thereby used as
the family and others cemetery).
2. Where would the cemetery be? Look for the lonely pine or pines in the middle of the clearing or wooded area, usually placed to mark the grave sites, or picked out and left there while the land was originally cleared and looked like a nice resting place for them (and family) later. Remember, those families were pretty practical in their lifestyle and living and did things using what you and I would now days call common sense, so use some while looking around for that burial place. If no trees stick out as evident, another place would be a small fenced in area that would not have any signs as animal pens, maybe some small pointed or flat stones around the edge or center standing up instead of lying down like stones normally would be. These particularly odd positioned stones, not being a natural way stones usually lay, would be the head and or foot stones of the ones buried there. Look really close and you may be able to see faint scratch or cut marks with the names and dates of ones there. (Faint because they were scratched into the stone earlier or weather has washed the surface partially away after many years.) I have also noticed photos placed within the face of the stones and covered with small glass, showing the face of the loved one buried there.
3. Placement, size and number of stones tell a story. All the larger ones probably adults and the one or two largest probably to the parents or Mom of the group. Small ones, especially in short indentions in the ground, are usually children. Ones buried at the back corner of the cemetery is usually a black sheep of the family or husband of one of the kin and the controlling kin of the cemetery did not like them, etc. Draw a small sketch of what you find so you can get an idea of who and why they were placed in the locations found, etc. Nice info to have to add to just names and numbers you have already collected.
4. How to find the names? Good question, look for older people around that may have been friends of some of the family members, played games with them during the week years ago and see if they have one of the old family Bible, for names. Or maybe a year book of years ago, or maybe knows of where a school teacher still lives and may have some old records in their home. Also, churches sometime keep old records of baptisms and maybe an old General Store nearby has records of charges by those names earlier. Oh, by the way, while you are asking neighbors and friends, also ask them of the possibilities of another cemetery nearby :+)
Click on these extra tips you may be interested in.
Making sure
you know the outer limits of the cemetery or parcel of land.
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