When we last left off TW and I had just finished auditing a family cemetery out in the boondocks and had sought to locate another cemetery a few yards away. We were sitting in the car on the roadside, praying for a decent cell signal so that I can verify the location. The cemetery appears to be off in the woods (aren't they all?) and I want to start as close to the stated site as possible rather than wander aimlessly through a thicket.
Naturally a car rolls up and asks if we are having a problem. Don't be mistaken - Southern Hospitality in these cases is an equal measure of a genuine offer of assistance and wanting to know what the hell a stranger is doing snooping around the place.
"No. No problem. Just trying to locate an old cemetery."
"Oh. That. It's just over there. (pointing over into the woods). See that old driveway? Just in from there a few feet. You know there's another one over there? (pointing back to the Paul and Lester cemetery we just left)"
I explain that we just left that cemetery and thank him for directing us to the second site. I pull closer to the spot and head off into the brush (TW is a bit tuckered out at this point and opts to let me fly solo.
Fortunately there is at least one upright marker or I would not have found the place! 7 listed memorials. One being a substantial upright pillar of sorts and 5 being basic, thick above the ground rectangle slabs. These are easily found (all being in one row!) Picture a basic family plot in a large cemetery, with granite borders. It is just that the plot is alone, out in the woods, and not visible until you are right on top of it.
But there is a problem. The seventh grave is not visible. Find A Grave has is listed and has a photo of the marker. However it seems to be a level with the ground slab, though, and there is substantial detritus built up. I start kicking and scraping with my foot. The site is not that large so it only takes a minute or two to find it.
Success! All 7 graves audited and GPS tagged!
The real shocker from this visit only came after we had returned home. I will sometimes do a little research on the people whose graves we find to use writing these silly posts. So I open Ancestry and start searching for the patriarch of this little Wright family.
If you have never noticed, when searching in general in Ancestry you are prompted to use details for any person in your Ancestry tree who matches you search criteria. Imagine my surprise to see John Hubbard Wright already in my tree!
Clearly I have missed something here. More focused attention is necessary. I settle in and start digging.
Come to find out that his wife, Sarah, is my 1st cousin 4x removed! She is a granddaughter of my 4th GGF! I had her and her husband in the tree but had never traced their line any further. Rest assured that is corrected now. At least two more generations added to the tree on this line Others in the cemetery are her children making them my 2nd cousins 3x removed (several of the children never married and I find them all in the same household in the censuses - so far as they have been released).
It is always sad to find these abandoned cemeteries. It is sadder still to realize that the abandonment is relatively recent. In this case the last burial was in 1966. Hell, I was around by then and I am not all that old.
Am I?
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