Why did all my ancestors live so far away?

Br'er had to travel a distance recently to attend services for his last paternal uncle. Of all the brothers, only Poppa Br'er is left.

Would you believe that Br'er could not locate the cemetery in order to attend graveside service for the family? Rather embarrassing to say!

But always looking to turn things to something positive, he took the opportunity make a first time visit to the graves of two of his 5th GG Parents. Ancestors it must be said that he did not know the names of until recently. A clue or two that came from a most unexpected source enabled Br'er to push back that branch of his family tree another generation. Possibly two, though that second generation remains more speculation than fact at this point.

It must be said that this family cemetery is outstanding. Out standing in a hayfield, that is!

If you ever find yourself driving in the far rural countryside and see a copse of trees and brush in the middle of an otherwise cleared field then chances are good that either there are graves there, or a building once stood on the spot and no one has ever bother to clear and plant it. As the adage goes, "It's mighty hard to get straighten up once you start plowing your furrows crooked." Or put another way, inertia is a cruel mistress and habits are hard to break.

Now you must understand that Br'er is NOT dressed for the occasion. Having come directly from his uncle's service, he remains in his suit. Not what one would normally don to traipse about headstones, and especially not what one chooses to march several hundred yards across a hayfield! And doubly especially not in the 90+ degree temps that day! A body broke out in a profuse sweat simply sitting in the shade. Any exertion whatsoever only made things worse.

But Fate is often kind on fools. There was a service path from the road far back into the field and the hay was cut relatively recently so access to the graves was almost as easy as it would have been were they in a churchyard!

Looking about it is obvious that this was once a fancy - dare I say hoity-toity? - family cemetery. The remains of concrete pillars with large metal pipes still border all sides of the site which measures approximately 90 to 100 feet per side. Many of these are severely damaged and much of the perimeter tubing between the posts has been removed and lost. Still, it had to have made quite the visual impression when first erected around two centuries ago.

Find A Grave lists only 9 actual interments in the cemetery. Of these only two do not have markers. However one need only cast a casual glace to see that there are clearly many, many more graves. The fieldstones in neat, orderly, evenly spaced rows and columns make it clear that there are upwards of another three dozen graves there. County Historical Society records for the cemetery list the marked graves and "and approximately 30 additional unmarked graves". There is no way of telling who these might be.

Enclosing the marked graves are fences of ornate cast iron that remain striking and in good shape, considering their age. All the markers save one are flat headstones. The exception is an woman's monument constructed of a plinth and obleskisk standing between 15 and 20 feet tall. Clearly her husband wanted her remembered!

The odd thing is that the only words carved on it are abutting directly with the cast iron fencing making it virtually impossible to read.

The headstones are well made and still readable.

It would be most interesting to apply some biologic cleaner to these and see how much of the accumulated years' discoloration can be safely stripped away.

And is it me, or does it look like the same person carved every one of these stones?

Leaving from there what does Br'er spy but an old church cemetery less than a mile down the road replete with obviously old monuments in it. Stopping for just a minute was a moral imperative!

And wouldn't you know it? There are names from one of Br'er's lines! He updates these with GPS locations and makes note of the cemetery so's he can research any possible connections from the comforts of the AC in his hutch.

Update: Since posting the above, I have done further research and, painfully, learned that I am absolutely NOT related to anyone in this cemetery.

Feck!

Back to the drawing board.