My latest cemetery adventure

13 years ago

I had six photo requests for a small cemetery I'd never been to before, and when I looked at a map and realized it was not far from my vet and I had to pick up wormers, I figured I'd swing by and take some pictures.

The cemetery was at the end of a road off a main thoroughfare. When I made the turn it was a paved road, but it quickly turned into dirt. I came upon a stretch that looked as though it had been washed out. Deep ditches on either side, and some here and there on the road itself. What I could see of the road ahead looked okay, and I could drive around the deep areas, first on the right and then on the left, so I proceeded.

Big mistake. Once I got around a bend, I could see that the road--what was left of it--was even worse ahead. But by this point I had to go forward. The road was too narrow to turn around, and I couldn't back up around a bend, steering with the precision required to avoid sliding into one of the ditches.

I've never driven on anything like it. Several times I had to get out of the car to make sure my wheels were accurately placed on narrow bands of road between the ditches. It would have been nerve-wracking even in my SUV, but I was driving my big old Chevy Caprice, very low to the ground. I could just imagine the undercarriage slamming down on something, rupturing the 25-gallon gas tank I'd just filled.

The rest of the road was like that until I got to the cemetery. Once I arrived, I took 65 pictures because a) I knew I'd never go back there, and b) the more pictures I took, the more I could delay the dreaded return trip.

On that return trip there were times I didn't think I'd get out of there without calling the cops to come rescue me. It's funny--I had called the local police the day before to report a road hazard, and still remembered their number. But somehow (divine intervention, maybe, plus more checks on my wheel placement) I got to the end of the road and back to civilization.

When I uploaded my photos I found a large number of mistakes in the FindAGrave listings--more than I'd ever encountered. The memorials had errors in birth dates, death dates, and the spelling of names. There were so many it was almost funny. I wondered at one point if the local gravestone engraver had had an overdeveloped sense of mischief.

I was glad to be able to email the memorial managers and correct the errors. One guy--whom I emailed 12 times--never responded. I hope he made the changes.

Here's one image that stayed with me: two wooden crosses, no names.

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Comments (8)

jannie
13 years ago
There are several old cemeteries near me, some graves dating back to the 1700's. . They no longer allow grave rubbings of the headstones as they are trying to protect the headstones from further damage.Only photos are allowed. One old cemetery is located in the parking lot of a huge Home Depot store on Long Island. It has benches and trees. I see HD employees taking breaks there.

This post was edited by jannie on Sat, Jul 20, 13 at 10:27
sleeperblues
13 years ago
Glad you made it out of there. Sounds like quite the adventure. Those look like recent flags on the crosses, so someone else must have been there recently. (Glad you didn't lose your gas, 25 gallons yikes)
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alisande
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks! Yeah, it's a big gas tank. One day I was filling it up when a motorcycle pulled up at the pump across from me. A man and woman got off, and I said to them, "My tank is bigger than your tank." She said, "We get more miles to the gallon than you do." LOL She spoke the truth!
jemdandy
13 years ago
When I see a pair of graves marked with plain wood crosses, it makes me wonder about the background strory; There are so many possibilities. i am sure these were put there with loving care.

There are some things I can deduce from your photo. These crosses are not old. This is not a desert type area judging from the ground cover and the bushes of the border in the background. Plain wood markers do not last very long in contact with the ground where moisture is available. These crosses are probably are no older than 20 years. Someone has placed memorial flags on them and the flags do not seem to be old.

Someone has been mowing this burial ground else it would have been overtaken by tree sprouts and 'pioneer' vegtation.

When you looked at other gravestone, did you see any pebbles on top of the stone? In some ethnic groups, it is a custom to place a pebble on the gravestone to indicate that someone was there to pay respects to the occupant.

By hte way, it was so nice of you to collect and post these photos.

For the most part, the data on the gravestone is the best available in absence of other documents, but there can be errors on the stone. Often, the data came from a grieveing spouse or the nearest relative living nearby. They don't always get it right. It is nice if the data can be verified from at least 2 independent sources.

Recently, I got a certified copy of my grandfather's death certificate. His last name was misspelled even though the data was supplied by my dad, and yet the name is properly spelled in his gravestone - go figure.
susanjf_gw
13 years ago
alisande? did I tell you about the cemetery off if grand river bl in Farmington mi? you're supposed to be "pulled" up the incline on the small road, lol..we found about this "myth" cause one of dh's soccer girls was ticketed for trespassing after closing hours, lol....it was at least 10 years go...but I have to lol everytime we drive by there...
alisande
Original Author
13 years ago
No, I hadn't heard that, Susan--and what was the soccer girl doing there after hours? :-)

Jem, good point about relatives not always giving accurate info.

No pebbles that I noticed. What ethnic groups do this? Most of the gravestones I see around here are English, Irish, Lithuanian, and Polish.
susanjf_gw
13 years ago
trying t see if the myth worked, lol...the thing is there are homes on one side and in the back...

btw, they lost a huge tree there from the bad rain we had...the electric co was trying to get power back today as we drove by...
alisande
Original Author
13 years ago
I was wondering if anyone got the t-storm they warned us about. It never showed up here.

My latest cemetery adventure

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jannie

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My latest cemetery adventure

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jannie

sleeperblues

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