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.