Digging up my Ancestors

[Magicman]

No, I have not dug anyone up but I have been digging into records, maps, and old writings for quite a while.  Thankfully I contacted the "oldest man who might know" a while back and he confirmed that there was indeed an old cemetery on what is now Plum Creek property.  He went with me and pointed in the general direction.  A Plumb Creek employee later confirmed that there was a cemetery and that there were large uncut trees on it so those trees became my destination today.  I used maps and my GPS to plot my course and what a destination it was.

The first thing that I found were 2 footstones.  My records verified that they were my Great Great Grandparents children.


 
The next thing that I found was the top portion of my Great Great Grandfather Josea's headstone buried under a couple of inches of soil and leaves.


 
Next it was a couple of pieces of my Great Great Grandmother Mary's headstone.


 
I found a total of 5 headstones and 3 footstones.  Some completely intact.

I know that the other headstone pieces are there so I will go back with a probe, etc. and prepared to do some careful digging.  I will also do some measuring so that I can carry some concrete "backerboard" and thinset mortar so that I can reconstruct and reset the headstones in their proper place.

Today I dug up my Ancestors.   

[Ljohnsaw]

MM,
That is a fantastic find!  Good luck with your future diggings and fixing of the original stones.

[thecfarm]

Good idea to keep them GPS numbers. How far did you have to walk to it?

[WmFritz]

Whew! I was a little leery to peek at this one.  :D

What a great piece of the puzzle you've uncovered.
And glad to hear you'll make some repairs for your Great Great Grandchildren's Children.   ;D

( No sign of Jeff Davis in there?) 

[Magicman]

Actually Jefferson was on the same tree, but on a different limb.  Only one of Jefferson's children (daughter, Margaret Howell Davis Hayes) produced any children.  The other five of his children died without leaving an heir.  Our common ancestor was "Evan" who was my 6 Great and Jefferson's Great Grandfather.

Reading the above account of my search seemed simple, when it actually has taken me 4-5 years and much legwork.  It was a spark of good fortune that I was finally led to the "oldest man" in the community that might know.  He died a few months after he pointed me in the general direction.  It then took me a couple more years to finally pinpoint within a ¼ mile of where it was.  When I finally got there today, I only saw what appeared to be sunken graves and finally stumbled upon a footstone.  All of the headstones were buried several inches below the surface.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

This is a great project Lynn.....lots of work, but has to be some relaxation from milling. 

[TimRB]

Very interesting story--thanks for posting!

If there is a college nearby, you may be able to persuade a few archeology or history students to help unearth any other markers that may be present.

Tim

[chain]

I know you are so gratified to find your ancestors resting place. Mark it for posterity, your future generations will be so thankful of your endeavors. Surprising there are many graveyards unmarked or moved, abandoned, and forgotten.

I'll never forget in deer hunting one fall of stumbling upon a graveyard all grown up in nice sized oak and hickory. What was so unusual was a photograph englassed upon the monument. Sort of spooky, but the fellow was a nice appearing young man I think in his late twenties.

[Magicman]

I believe without a doubt that this cemetery would have been forever lost to the Davis family had I not found that old man before he died.  Sure, Plum Creek knew that it was there, but I see no way for it have ever been connected with the research that I had done.

[Corley5]

That's really  8) 8) 8)

[kczbest]

Good work Magicman. There's nothing like saving a piece of Family history. Genealogy can be very addictive, once you start it is hard not to keep digging to see what's next.

[beenthere]

Very interesting and rewarding.

All of the headstones were buried several inches below the surface.

This area prone to flooding, that they would be buried? Or just build up of many layers of leaves over the years?

[WmFritz]

Now you got me curious, MM.  :D

Do you know any of the dates your kin died?  Did any of the stones say? It's obvious what year Josea  was born. I'm just wondering how old the monuments are. I found myself going back and looking at the Freemason insignia and wondering what the G stood for. After an hour long Google search, I figured out nobody knows.  :D :D
(slow Saturday night waiting for the race).

One ''guess'' was it was meant to signify Geometry. Another ''guess'' was it was for God. One important sounding Mason, I didn't retain his name,  wrote that the letter G didn't appear in symbols before 1850. This statement was discredited though, when a artifact made by Paul Revere in 1796 contained a G in the symbol.

What a great discovery you have found.

[SPIKER]

Very interesting, I have seen one or two OLD abandoned plots myself & see some in disrepair on some property I drive by.   It is kind of sad to see them, great for you to find & fix your family plot from a few generations ago.

[Jeff]

Your a grand Grandson Lynn.

[Magicman]

This area prone to flooding, that they would be buried? Or just build up of many layers of leaves over the years? 

No possibility of flooding whatsoever.  It is a buildup of many many years of neglect.  Some of the headstones had many feeder roots across them.  This is why I need a prod to gingerly probe the ground for the other headstone pieces.

WmFritz:  I have many sheets of geological information with the birth and death dates, but interestingly enough, I found a couple of discrepancy's and  I would tend to believe that the headstones are correct.  One was a birth date and the other was a name.  I showed "Savannah" and the headstone said "Susannah" and her dates were the same as I have. 

I had no idea that Josea was a Mason, so this was a very exciting and important (to me) find.  Yes, I know what the "G" represents as I am a Mason.  So was my Dad, Granddad, and also my Son, Marty.

[WmFritz]

I Yes, I know what the "G" represents as I am a Mason. 

So... am I warm?   ;D ;D


Edit:
Aww... never mind! I just saw a clue under Poston's avatar and figured it out.
I wasn't even in the ballpark!  :-\ :-\   ;D

[luvmexfood]

Kudos for you Magicman. Our farm was bought by my grandfather around 1940. There was/is an old family graveyard on it. Not from any of our family. No one ever visits or tries to maintain it.

[sandhills]

Magic that's very interesting thanks for sharing it with us, there's an old cemetary out in the hills along a sand trail that I stop by every once in awhile, gets mowed around once a year or so.   Some of the headstones are just propped up against trees but there is one grave for a civil war vet that really stands out, and lot for babies.

[Dave Shepard]

I Yes, I know what the "G" represents as I am a Mason. 

So... am I warm?   ;D ;D


Edit:
Aww... never mind! I just saw a clue under Poston's avatar and figured it out.
I wasn't even in the ballpark!  :-\ :-\   ;D

I don't think it means grits.  :D

[WmFritz]

I don't think it means grits.  :D

I don't know, Dave. I'm not betting any doughnuts on it.
These guys in Dixie are g**ts fanatics.  ;D ;D