Living History
On the very far edge of our property we have a cemetery. The only mention of this cemetery that I have been able to find is one in a book about a local church that shows the cemetery on an old map of the village drawn from memory and the original deed dated to when the man who built our house bought this piece of land. From the deed and local history we know it is the family cemetery of whom our village is named.
We can identify eight graves. At least three appear to be adult sized and the rest are children or infants. The plots are marked with large stones at the head and foot but there is no marked headstone. I have been digging and researching and talking to people to try to accurately record who is in there.
Having talked with several members of the historical society in this county no one was aware that a cemetery existed. No one at the library, tax office or clerk of courts knew there was a cemetery here.
Having talked with Miss Ethel she only remembers one woman who ever had anything to do with the cemetery and I have traced that name to be a daughter of the man I believe to be buried there.
All the pieces of the puzzle fit. I just have to prove it. Much easier said than done.
As I have searched deed books, will books, marriage bonds, census records and abstracts from other histories written about our county I have come to know this family in a sense. Just as I have come to know the family and the man who built our house in 1909.
The original owner of this piece of land was a tavern keeper. His father before him was a tavern keeper here as well. The corner from which you enter our property sits catty-cornered to two roads that have been major thoroughfares in Virginia's past.
On our corner is a Virginia State Historical marker that indicates the encampment of the Marquis De Lafayette in June of 1781. The view from the orchard toward the road is the road that has been in use since before 1776. It was a major highway of the day. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson visited friends and collegues in this area. We have even had a chance to dine in a fine home where Jefferson was often a guest.
The past comes alive for me as I sit and read. My imagination is vivid. I dream in color.
It is 1778 and horse drawn carriages pass by on their way to the grand plantations where Jefferson and Washington will sleep.
It is 1781 and I can hear the low murmurs of men camped under the trees, rolled up in their bedding, fires dying in the night as they await for the time to push General Cornwallis to the east.
It is 1801 and James Madison has inherited Montpelier.
It is 1817 and Dolley and James have come to make their home.
It is 1864 and I can hear the beat of horse hooves as Jackson and Lee and Longstreet ride, camp and fight.
It is 1909 and I can hear the train that once stopped in front our house where the owner had his general mercantile store, the post office and the train depot.
It is 1960 and the village is quiet. There is no train, no store.
It is 1990 and the most movement in the village is across the road where the post office now resides in an old store front smaller than my livingroom.
It is 2005 and I close my eyes and am wisked away to another time and it all happened right here at my doorstep. The past is alive and I am part of history.
this is sooooo great. please, write more about your property and research results. this is amazing.
Wonderful post Angie. This is exactly why I love living here. We are connected to the past in so many ways.
Another piece of your reservoir of talents comes to the surface day after day. More fine stuff, Angie. thanks.
And your place becomes even more amazing, as is your writing, tell us more, please.
Veeeery interesssting.
I love this kinda stuff, but have no patience to do it myself. We live right next door to a cemetery with quite a few graves dating back to before the 1850's.
I have a question tho...when you say "I've been digging" in paragraph 2...what EXACTLY do you mean????????
;)
Fabu day to you!
I LOVE this sort of connection to history. We have a small pioneer cemetary very close to our house and the county forgot about all it. Because it's an existing cemetary, although in huge neglect, it can still "accept" newcomers so
I've left instructions to put me there when my time comes. If that comes to pass, I'll be the first person buried there in the last 135 years.
Maybe you can do the same!
With your love of history and respect for it, there is no doubt you were destined to live there. In a strange way, that place is lucky you are now the owner.
Okay, I can't take much more.
First the awesome old house and needing-attention acreage all around it.
Cool outbuildings, future goats and chickens.
THEN the kickass, bitching cool car. Add to that finding old fashioned roses AND a hiden gate AND A CEMETERY THAT NO ONE KNEW EXISTED.
You are living the life of one of my light-romance novels I read in 8th grade,down to your dark hair and eyes that no doubt flash sparks when you are angry.
I. CAN'T. TAKE. MUCH. MORE.
That is what I love about this area...so much history and drama happened here. Maybe a ghostie will come tell you who they are ;0) Hey, stranger things have happened!
Love it, but when do you actually scrub the toilets ?
Not being nasty, it just never seems to get done here- and it's top of my list...always...
When do I scrub toilets?
Usually when I am getting ready for my daily shower I quickly scrub the toilet using one of those new fangled toilet wands. After I shower I wipe out the tub. I also use one of those sprays that prevent mold in the grout as our bathroom has no window. It takes about 10 minutes tops.
My husband and I are the only ones who use our bathroom so it is easier to keep clean than the one upstairs. Three girls share that bathroom and are responsible for its maintenance. We inspect it and they clean it.
Angie, I am our family's historian. After reading your post, I am going to send you all my stuff and have you write the 'coming alive' part for me! LOL
On a serious note, if you do eventually document who is buried at the site, then post that info on the USGENWEB site for that county. This was a good post!
Flat, I am currently working toward my certification as a Genealogist and research specialist. My husband is a software developer and is writing me my very own program. I have so much research from my family and now as well as his nothing commercially can handle it. Hopefully within a year I will have a fully accessable database up and running. It is just too much for the websites and databases now to handle and I do not have time to sort through it for those sites.
Do you know the GEDcom file format and process is owned by the LDS and they CHARGE for it to be incorporated into genealogy utilities? There are many better ways to handle the data. That is why he is building a custom format for me.
I do support the GenWeb. Do not get me wrong. Some of the best leads have come from there. I do answer as many queries there as I can.
I am hoping the research I am doing will come together in my second historical published work. Our little village deserves it. It has been neglected far too long. If it is not preserved now while Miss Ethel is still alive it will be lost forever.
Note: Miss Ethel is 103 yrs old. Her father built my house when she was 5 years old.
As I read your entry, I couldn't help but wonder that it was fate that brought you to own this property. After all, no one else would be able to pursue its history in the gifted manner that you have chosen. If it were anyone else, history would remain buried. Instead, you bring it alive. Bravo.