Seven Good Things About Being a Graveyard Rabbit

In gratitude for nominating The Graveyard Rabbit Afield for the Kreativ Blogger Award, I am dedicating this post to my very erudite and talented fellow Texan Judith Richards Schubert of Tennessee Memories (as well as Genealogy Traces, Cemeteries of the Covered Bridges, Cemeteries with Texas Ties, and Food Gratitude - she's a busy lady!):

These are just seven of the many enjoyable things about being a Graveyard Rabbit:

1. It’s peaceful.
2. It’s educational.
3. You are a member of a community of interesting people.
4. You get to work on your photography skills.
5. You never know whom you might be helping with the information you post.
6. Each graveyard has its own atmosphere and its own beauty.
7. When you mention to your children that you are a Graveyard Rabbit, they look at you as though you had just announced that you have decided to “go Goth.”

Mt. Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery: Annie E. Kuntz Spidle

Annie E. Kuntz
Wife of E. O. Spidle
Died
Feb 20 1905
Aged 32 Y.
1 M and 27 D

Mt. Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery: Two Rachel Guldens

Rachel Gulden
Born Feb 6, 1830
Died Nov. 29, 1905


Rachel Gulden
Died Sept. 8, 1910
Aged 53 YRS., 6 MO. 23 DS.

Discovery of Pre-Civil War Graves Stops Condo Development; Nuns Sued for Selling Property

The discovery of more than 600 sets of remains dating to 1839-1856 in what was formerly a Catholic cemetery in Dubuque, Iowa, has stopped construction of luxury condos on the site and ended in the developer, A. J. Spiegel, suing the nuns who sold him the property. Spiegel claims that he was led to believe the remains had all been removed by the owners of the property, an order of Sinsinawa Dominican nuns. The nuns’ attorney and the diocese say that the nuns sincerely believed that all the remains had been removed from the area of the old Third Street Cemetery, also known as Kelly’s Bluff Cemetery.

It is believed that the graves may have been lost due to deterioration or loss of the grave markers or from the graves never having been marked at all.

Spiegel is seeking compensation under the Iowa law requiring property owners to pay for the excavation of human remains and also wants payment for relocation of the remains and lost use of the site.

The Third Street Cemetery was the first Catholic cemetery in Dubuque. The state archaeologist’s office will do an excavation on the site and has put the project on hold for two years.

Mt. Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery: Jeremiah Beam

Jeremiah Beam
Co G 99th Reg. Pa. Vol.
Died Nov 27, 1907
in his 74th Year

Mt. Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery: Nettie Monn and Stella Mae Beam

NETTIE MONN
1884-1910

STELLA MAE BEAM
July 28, 1914

Mt. Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery: George Mortorff

PRI BATTERY E 2nd REGT.
PA HEAVY ARTILLERY
1844-1920
SARAH E. SLUSSER
HIS WIFE
1849-

My Favorite Photo: An Excursion to Mattituck Presbyterian Church Cemetery

Although Graveyard Rabbits have the gift of finding excitement in graveyards, one of the principle attractions of the graveyard for them is the peaceful atmosphere. The photo I have chosen as my favorite illustrates this sense of peace.

The photo shows my father-in-law standing in front of Mattituck Presbyterian Church in Mattituck, Long Island, New York. When we visited my husband’s parents last January, on a freezing cold day, with snow on the ground, my father-in-law Howard took me out to this church and cemetery so that I could do some photography and transcribing. The air was so cold that it was difficult to write or even to get my fingers to push the button on the camera, but Howard waited patiently for me. He knows a lot about the local history of this area and has knows a number of people in the families who have lived in this part of Long Island for many years, so he was able to fill me in on some of the history of the church and the people buried here. Despite the cold, we had a good time (or at least I’m hoping that he did, too) and were able to enjoy the stark beauty of the snow-covered graveyard. Some of the best times are to be had in the simplest of activities while quietly appreciating the beauty around us.

Submitted for the August 2009 edition of the Graveyard Rabbit Carnival: Favorite Photo.

Mt. Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery: Margaret Mortorff

MARGARET MORTORFF
SEP. 17, 1826
MAR. 10, 1913
AGED 86 YEARS
5 MOS. 22 DS.

Cemetery of Mt. Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, Goodyear, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania is a frequent destination for our family on its travels: Our oldest daughter is in college in Philadelphia, our younger daughter has attended the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth Program at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania for the past four years, and we love to visit Gettysburg, Lancaster, and other parts of Pennsylvania. Even when our destination is beyond Pennsylvania, we enjoy traveling through the state and often stop at the small towns along our route.

Our last trip to Carlisle via Route 34 (the Carlisle Pike) took us through Goodyear and Idaville, close neighbors on Route 34 and home to Mt. Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church and Idaville United Methodist Church. After we dropped our daughter off in Carlisle my husband and I took a leisurely drive back home to Virginia, stopping at several fruit stands, the two cemeteries, and, as always, Gettysburg.

Below are photographs of Mt. Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church and its cemetery; photographs and transcriptions of some of the graves to follow.

Thank you Judith and Linda

Judith Richards Shubert of Tennessee Memories and Linda Ellis of Exploring almost forgotten gravesites in Ohio have awarded me the Kreativ Blogger Award. Thank you both, and thank you especially for all the pleasure and education I get from your blogs. I am passing the award on to seven Graveyard Rabbit bloggers; this was difficult due to the high level of creativity and the educational value of so many Graveyard Rabbit sites (following all these sites provides an amazing education in cemetery lore). Here are the seven GYRabbits I have nominated:

1. Diane Wright at The Graveyard Rabbit Travels Wright
2. Cheryl Hoover Davis at The Graveyard Rabbit of the Runnells Iowa Area
3. Cheryl Palmer at The Graveyard Rabbit of South Alameda County
4. Lisa Burks at Adventures in Grave Hunting
5. Lancaster Pennsylvania's Graveyard Rabbit
6. The Philadelphia Graveyard Rabbit
7. Brenda Kay Wolfgram Moore at Grand Traverse & Leelanau Counties Cemetery

[I can't seem to leave a comment on Brenda's website; if anyone knows how, I would appreciate help. If not, I hope Brenda sees this!]

Since this Award may have reached the point where it is winding down a bit, I am posting a general form of the rules here under which you are not obligated to make further nominations, but if you would like to nominate one or more blogs, feel free to do so as follows:

1. Copy the award to your site.
2. Link to the person from whom you received the award.
[If you wish to nominate other blogs]
3. Nominate other bloggers.
4. Link to those sites on your blog.
5. Leave a message on the blogs you nominate.

Images from Bomarton Cemetery, Baylor County, Texas

Kirby R. Moore
1880-1950
Our Beloved Dad
Rest in Peace



Here are some photographs taken by my cousin Vernetta Floyd in Bomarton Cemetery, Baylor County, Texas. The first picture shows my Grandfather Kirby R. Moore’s gravestone and the second is a general view showing the bluebonnets that cover the ground in season. Thanks, Vernetta!

John C. and Ettie E. Terry, Mattituck Presbyterian Church Cemetery

John C. Terry
March 24, 1831
Feb 21 1895/6

Ettie E. Terry
Nov 8 1836
Feb 8, 1895

William H. Wood, Mattituck Presbyterian Church Cemetery

WILLIAM H. WOOD
BORN
Jan 12, 1828
DIED
Dec 29 1867

Anne and James Shirley, Mattituck Presbyterian Church Cemetery

ANNE
WIFE OF
James Shirley
BORN jun 9 1793
DIED
Dec 3 1881















JAMES SHIRLEY
BORN
Aug 23, 1787
DIED
June 26, 1851

Parnel and Elizabeth Wickham

In
Memory of
Parnel & Elizabeth
Wickham
Blessed are the pure in heart
WICKHAM

The Wickham family has farmed in the Cutchogue area of Long Island for 300 years. I believe Parnel and Elizabeth Wickham may have been sisters. Apparently the Wickhams were prominent Loyalists during the War of the American Revolution.

Hannah Wickham, Mattituck Presbyterian Church Cemetery

In Memory of
Mrs. Hannah
Wife of Mr.
John Wickham
who died
Nov. 6, 1778
in the 40th Year
of her Age.

This was Hannah Fanning Wickham, daughter of James Wickham and Hannah Smith.

Samuel Shirley and Janet W. Melville, Mattituck Presbyterian Church Cemetery

Samuel Shirley
January 19, 1832
October 31, 1914

Janet W. Melville
HIS WIFE
May 18, 1834
March 29, 1914

James W. Shirley, Mattituck Presbyterian Church Cemetery

James W. Shirley
BORN
July 31, 1824
DIED
August 23, 1898

Mattituck Presbyterian Church Cemetery

Here are some photographs taken at the Mattituck Presbyterian Church Cemetery on Main Road in Mattituck, New York. We were visiting my husband’s parents this last weekend and my father-in-law Howard Koehl graciously took me out into the freezing cold and snow to do some Graveyard Rabbiting. He informs me that the blue building you see in the background of the cemetery in a couple of the photos was the original church building and that it now serves as the home of the local repertory theater. I took as many photos and did as many transcriptions as I could until my hands started to freeze and my pen did not want to write any more.

Celebrity Tombstone: Greyfriars Bobby, Greyfriars Kirkyard

When my husband and I were in Edinburgh on our honeymoon in 1982, a visit to Greyfriars Bobby's grave and memorial was one of our top priorities. The bottom photo is of his tombstone in Greyfriars Kirkyard (he is buried just inside the gate of Greyfriars Kirkyard, not far from the grave of John Gray, which Bobby is said to have guarded for the 14 years he survived John Gray). The top photo is of the Greyfriars Bobby pub and the middle photo is of the statue of Bobby in front of the pub.

Cemetery of St. Tikhon's Monastery-3

Here is a tombstone in the form of the three-bar cross. Unfortunately, I did not make a transcription of the inscription; that will have to be rectified in future visits!

Cemetery of St. Tikhon's Monastery - 2

Cemetery of St. Tikhon's Monastery

Above and in the following posts are some photographs my husband and I took at the cemetery adjoining St. Tikhon’s Monastery and Seminary in the summer of 2002. St. Tikhon’s, named for St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, an 18th century Russian bishop, is located in South Canaan, Pennsylvania. The monastery was dedicated on 31 July 1905. The graves here include those of a number of clergy and laypeople who have played a prominent role in the history of the Orthodox Church in America.

Goals of This Blog

As a member of the Association of Graveyard Rabbits, I hope to devote this blog to all things graveyard:

- To exploration, preservation, and restoration of graveyards and burial sites.
- To studying and chronicling the history and art of graveyards and putting this in the context of the history of the surrounding area.
- To mapping graveyards and transcribing tombstones.
- To learning about burial customs and tombstone/grave marker conventions.

I will post photographs and information on cemeteries that my family and I visit in the course of our travels.