Thursday, January 28, 2016

A Walk on Hallowed Ground

A week or so ago, while it was really cold, I saw a picture in my Facebook feed from a site I follow call "Vintage History".  The lady who runs this shows all manner of vintage items, from 
pictures of people, to old buildings, to vintage items. 

That day, she showed a picture of a distinctive funeral stone, and 
it happened to be in a local cemetery, so I promised myself that 
the first time it was decent out, I would run over there and find it. 

I did, today.  

I went right to the sexton's office, and luckily, 
found him there. 

He knew exactly what I was talking about, and directed me straight to it, 
because this is a LARGE cemetery. 


This is the beautiful old memorial to the five Weed Children, and please notice, their dad was a doctor. 

I posted this on Facebook today, and one of my friends said "Creepy!" . 

It IS sort of creepy, but also very sad.  I'll show you the dates a little closer. 


Viola, born May 28, Died May 29, 1860
Lucien C., born December 8, 1861, Died July 20, 1862
Charlotte, Born March 10, Died August 18, 1863
Leonard and Buena Vista, twins, 
born January 22, died March 2, 1865

I could not find a stone for the parents, that was the sad thing. 

How many times did their mother stand in front of this stone, and think of their 
little faces, here so briefly? 


The drape signifies death. 


I spent over an hour there, praying for everyone as I walked. 


Father Oliver 41, Son Daniel, 14 years old, 
Massacred by Cheyenne Indians in Meade County, Kansas. 
August 24, 1874 

There really was a frontier, and if you notice, that's AFTER the Civil War. 


There is beautiful statuary. 


Though maybe it depends on the angle of the angel. 


Mount Muncie Cemetery looks across to the national cemetery where Keith and I will rest one day. 

I wish you could have heard the wind soughing in the pine trees up on this ridge. 
I would be a little apprehensive in the dark there. 


There are beautiful mausoleums that appear not to have been entered in many years. 


Rufus was only one of many military men in this family, and 
he fell during the Civil War.  


Here's our angel in a little better light... instead of being avenging, she is 
pointing the way to heaven. 


Another family who lost four children as infants. 
No wife's name, the poor mother. 


The Sudendorff family also lost many children, and I was stunned to walk around on the east side of the monument and find... 


There were so many, that Louisa was all by herself on the side. 

These children were buried in a ring around the monument. 


I cannot imagine losing baby after baby.  We do know that there was a diptheria 
epidemic here at one time, and many were buried in mass graves.  
These were individual deaths. 


Another beautiful stone. 



I will be going back, there is so much to explore. 







19 comments:

  1. Yep, still a bit creepy, but how sad to lose so many children. Makes me happy to have sanitation and medical care when needed.

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  2. Poignant, would be interesting to know the causes. Beautiful pictures! I too enjoy old cemeteries, so much history and interesting inscriptions. And it's normally very peaceful. The dead worry me less than many living. :)

    Dee

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  3. golly, that is so sad to lose 5 children within a relatively short period of time. Poor mother and father.

    I'm afraid I don't like cemeteries. The shell of our bodies lying underneath the soil. The soul gone to its destiny.

    I'm hoping you have warmer weather this weekend. We are suppose to. Hope to be outside some instead of stuck in the house.

    Take care,

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  4. What beautiful monuments, and I noticed a green moss all over the stones, I thought that shot of the pine tree was very pretty also against the stones, so many lost babies, ..........stella rose

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  5. Interesting. Mom likes visiting those old cemeteries
    Lily & Edward

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  6. I've always found cemeteries to be interesting places.

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  7. What a beautiful memorial stone for those babies. With modern medicine they probably would have lived longer. In those days not much was known and many didn't even ever see a doctor.

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  8. I saw some really old tombstones in a cemetery in Charleston, SC, a few years ago when I was there on a bus trip. Pretty fascinating!
    I hope you're feeling better!

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  9. In this day and age, the parents of those children would be LOOKED INTO... for possible child endangerment or WORSE... which is a sad statement of our times.

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  10. Our pawrents have spent many hours reading the headstones. There is always an unfinished story.

    Keep Calm & Bark On!

    Murphy & Stanley

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  11. I always enjoy researching old stones...you can find a lot of information about people on Google. For instance; Mr and Mrs Weed were both buried in Angelus Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angeles, CA. Interesting enough, they both died at the age of 73, with two surviving children.

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  12. Interesting read about the Shorts... https://www.kshs.org/p/kansas-historical-quarterly-united-states-surveyors-massacred-by-indians/12546

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  13. Brett and I enjoy walking through old cemeteries, reading the stones and thinking about the lives of those so long ago. I hope it doesn't make me a weirdo that I enjoyed reading this post... In a sad way, of course.

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  14. Very amazing! And beautiful photos,,, Each headstone has its own story.
    love
    tweedles

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  15. Lovely post, so much history. This reminds me of Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, VA; it's so named for the many holly trees, is over 100 acres and the second most visited cemetery in the country, after Arlington. A couple of weeks ago I did a post on Hollywood Cemetery with lots of pictures. I like wandering around cemeteries and miss the old fashioned Decoration Day. That's when we'd remember those gone before and have dinner on the church grounds. Yes, so much sadness but so much love, life and living as well.

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  16. Your photography is so beautiful. I love these old cemeteries. I cannot imagine the grief of these parents. We expect so much more out of children's lives now. It is hard to imagine their lives. It is the kink of sad beauty that haunts you because you could not know these people.

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  17. To me a cemetary is a special reminder of the true nature of humanity and the purpose of life. Like many of you, Mary Ann and I see a special story in every headstone. Or sometimes the story is in the dates on many headstones, like when many children were buried during a disease outbreak or a military unit from a small town (National Guard or Civil War Regiment) was decimated during a battle. It also reminds us of the fragile nature and the true purpose of life. I have yet to read an epitaph that read "Exceeded his sales quota for 48 quarters in a row."

    Praying that everyone in the bullseye of this next snowstorm makes it through safely. Hopefully we won't have many more.

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