Enthusiasm for Cemeteries
I don't think I have kept it a secret that one of my passions (strange or not) is pioneer cemeteries. It seems to be evident from several of my blog posts. In part, I don't see them only as cemeteries. I see them as stories, stone stories, left behind. Each one begs me to research and discover what I can about the person left behind. Some of the stories are intriguing (famous founders of local towns, civil war veterans), some are disastrous ( tragic loss of heads in mill explosions, struck by trains, trapped in wells), and most are ordinary passings. Do the "ordinary" deaths make them less important? Not to a genealogist. Delving into someone's history as documented in census records, marriage records, and court records for example, inevitably leads to fascinating details of a life. Many of these pioneers struggled with more than we realize. Tragic family situations were described in detail in news papers, beatings, poisonings, lack of food, poorhouses, children being indentured or passing of diseases that are now preventable. Things we don't talk about now, but were openly discussed then. Are we worse off today? Are we better? Is it because we don't discuss it, or because it is truth? That's what cemeteries are...stone stories. A collection of the past in one place. Thank you for allowing me this moment to tell you why they intrigue me. There is a vast gathering of information there. Waiting to be heard.
