LIFE AT THE COTTAGE

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Time Travel Thursday #14 - Revisiting the Past One Stone at a Time


BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THE DETAILS FOR ALL THREE LINKY PARTIES HERE AT THE COTTAGE!


Welcome to the fourteenth Time Travel Thursday linky party at the Brambleberry Cottage.

Are you ready for our next trip back in time and into the future?

OK, here we go.


I'm someone who finds cemeteries absolutely fascinating. 

Perhaps I should qualify that statement.  I actually find the history behindand the surroundings ofvery old cemeteries fascinating.


During my extended stay in New England this past summer, I was able to visit just such a place.

Can you read the headstone pictured above?  It dates back to 1776. 

Sadly, it marks the site of a daughter who died at a very young age.


This grave marker tells of a young wifeonly 28who died in 1781.

As I read the stone, I wondered how long she had been married...

if she had had time to have children, and, if so, how many?


This stone, from 1793, represents the death of yet another young wife. 

As I walked around and read the various tombstones there, I was struck by the brief lives that so many of them had lived. 


Something else I noted, as I walked around that day, was how many of the stones had fallen downor were in the process.

Did that mean there were no longer living relatives to care for some of these sites?


And many were covered in moss that had most likely been growing for decades.

Although, I must say, the timeworn appearance it created on these old stones was really beautiful.


And the setting for this particular cemetery was quite serene and peaceful.

It was atop a hill that was surrounded by trees and shrubs and enclosed by a lovely old stone wall.


I discovered through the Yankee's aunt and unclewho were our tour guides for most of this visitthat the markers on these rows, shown from this part of the stone wall...

 to the tree line, were all distant relatives of the Yankee's family.

I was amazed at how many members of one family were all buried togetheralbeit over the course of decades.


It was a sharp contrast to this lone marker that stood almost in the center of the grounds, all by itself.

Were the remaining plots surrounding it for those still living?

  There was no one there to answer that question.  So, perhaps, I will have to investigate that during my next visit.

I'm joining Suzanne for Vintage Thingie Thursday.

20 comments:

  1. Loved the tour...thanks for hosting!

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  2. Oddly, I too found this evoking! Just the history of it all and the brevity of life! The cemetery seems to offer tranquility and looks to be in a lovely place. My mom passed away 13 years ago and the children and I visit the wonderful old cemetery where so many of my relatives are buried...history is so intriguing, isn't it? Just reading the names on the tombstones is fascinating! Thank you for sharing! Christie at Three Pixie Lane

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  3. I love cemeteries. I have a vast collection of cemetery photos...mostly in the archives.

    This a beautiful cemetery you share with us here.

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  4. I, too Love old cemetaries and the stories they tell. Nice to meet you! Thanks for the photos and for the party!

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  6. Great tour, I too love old cemeteries...they hold a real interest for me. Happy VTT!

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  7. Old cemeteries are fascinating-I recently strolled through one by our nephew's home in Bridgewater, MA, dating back to 1600's. Their home dates to 1700's, nothing that old in AZ!

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  8. very interesting, I lake it!

    Kisses.

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  9. Enjoyed your tour of the homes of those gone before us. It was a most interesting and different post.

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  10. Happy Vintage Thingie Thursday! Maybe I'll link my vintage magazine....

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  11. Very peaceful, interesting and thought provoking. Love the pictures. The history there is incredible!

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  12. What a fascinating place. I love walking through old cemeteries and wondering about the lives of all the people. The iron fences surrounding some of the family plots are just beautiful.

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  13. I LOVE old cemetaries...it is the history lover in me that attracts me to these peaceful places. Thank you for the tour :)

    Blessings!
    Gail

    P.S. Pop by for a visit and enter in for my SPECIAL giveaway!

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  14. very beautiful in their own way....hard to believe that each one of those has its own story to tell and how many there are all over the world-mind boggling!
    gail
    adventuresininnkeeping.blogspot.com

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  15. I too really love cemeteries. I can hardly pass one and not want to stop and explore. The stones you shared today are so old and interesting!

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  16. I am intrigued by old cemeteries as well. In fact, I've formed somewhat of a bond with a little girl who passed away in the late 1800s in Sumpter, Oregon. I was poking around that cemetery one day and found her headstone...Helen was her name and she passed away at 2 years old. A few months later, I experienced a devastating miscarriage and went back to that cemetery a few months later and felt such a connection with the poor mother of that daughter. Cemeteries can stir up bittersweet thoughts and feelings but they're fascinating all the same!

    HaPpY vInTaGe ThInGiE tHuRsDaY!

    Sarah

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  17. Hi Liz! I just realized what day it was and linked in...phew. I have been soooo backwards for weeks now. I am trying hard to get back to normal.
    Cemetaries are just plain neat. I've never been scared in them. All the history..the stories. I think the cemetaries in sad shape is a Northern thing..you'd never see one in the South that way. Don't get me wrong..being in Ohio...I just think the Southern mentality is more past conscience. Doesn't matter if it's your relative or not you take care and give respect.

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  18. Wow, that is a simply amazing cemetery. I have been wandering cemeteries since I was 12 (I'm almost 50, so that's a while!), loving all of the stories behind the stones. Thanks for sharing this beautiful site. I will have to send the link to some of my fellow genealogists!

    I'm your newest follower.

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  19. Interesting post. I love the history of old cemeteries, also. I love the look of the old markers that were originally white. Right now, my mother and I are trying to find the graves of her uncles who died in infancy. They were born before my great grandparents moved across Quebec; a great distance in those days. They also have a huge plot with many family members buried together and some others elsewhere in the same cemetery. Happy VTT!

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  20. I love your photos! I can walk for hours in a cememtary and look at all the headstones. My daughter says I have more pictures of historical cemetaries than anything else! Older headstones were works of art themselves.

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Thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to comment.