RIVER DEBRIS –TSGS Dock of Shame

Vandals knock over 35 headstones at Oak Hill Cemetery

The above is the headline of the Evansville Courier & Press on Thursday, 02 Apr 2009

Photos of the vandalism were posted on their web site story of this vandalism. Photographs provided by the office of Evansville Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel.

(Click on photos to enlarge)

There are eight overturned tombstones in this photo along the cemetery wall at Oak Hill Cemetery.

The newspaper article reads in part:

Police are searching for the person or people responsible for knocking down about 35 headstones at Oak Hill Cemetery in Evansville. Workers at the cemetery discovered the vandalism Wednesday morning. “This act of vandalism is unconscionable," Evansville Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel said in a statement. "I cannot understand what would prompt someone to commit this type of crime and we will not tolerate it. Our residents should not have to tolerate this type of destruction when they come to visit loved ones who have been laid to rest in any City cemetery." Officials say police will step up patrols at city cemeteries because of the vandalism. The city expects to have the stones uprighted within the next few days.

This "unconscionable" act of wreakless desecreation of grave sites and markers clearly qualifies the individuals responsible for this cowardly (in the dark of the night) immature and foolish distruction for the

"TSGS Dock of Shame!"

- Submitted by JGWest (Photos furnished by the Mayor's Office as posted on the Evansville Courier & Press web site.)

"Land-Office Military Warrants"

John,

Thought this might be useful for the blog. Some from Posey Co. might enjoy seeing these Land Grants. A surveyor from Paducah sent it to me. The survey was for Northwestern Livingston Co., Ky. which at the time would have been (close to) across the Ohio River from now present Posey Co., Indiana.

Dont really know how Zephaniah Posey fits into this picture. Maybe someone from Posey Co. can answer that.

A really good article on Gen. Thomas Posey is at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Posey

Numerous websites state that Posey was the son of George Washington ?

-Submitted by Ken Gilkey

Tombstone Thursday - DeBruler/Traylor

A Genealogist's Dream

(Wouldn't it be nice if all tombstones

had this much family history!)

Oak Hill Cemetery, Evansville, Indiana

Section 14, Lot 18

Photos taken & submitted by Brenda Joyce Jerome

[Tombstone Thursday is dedicated in memory of Donald G. West 1952-2000]

From the FIRST MATE's PHOTO ALBUM...

Tornado Clean-Up Volunteers

This week we had a tornado hit in Kentucky and reminded me of the Nov. 2005 tornado that destroyed a mobile home park and Newburgh, Indiana was hit very hard, too. The tornado that killed several people brought our community together to provide relief for the victims of this deadliest Tornado of 2005. The Martin family established "PJ's Bus" to help children during disasters... named for their young son killed by the tornado in the park. Click on photos to get an enlarged photo.

Along with members of my SAR chapter & some of our wives, I am shown picking up debris in Newburgh to help with the Tornado Relief Clean-up on April First 2006 (exactly three years ago today). J.D. Strouth is leaning over behind my right shoulder in a yellow shirt & cap.


Becky West working intently at picking up sticks and wood that once was a house and some trees.


Here is our SAR Clean-up Crew (L-R): Peggy Gilkey, John West, Becky West, J.D. Strouth. Look at that pile of debris all of our volunteers picked up! I was interviewed on TV as part of the clean-up effort report on the news that night.

-Submitted by JGWest

From My Email Box - "Grave Houses?"

Grave Houses, Dowsing Rods!

Have you ever heard of a "grave house?" Apparently, this was something that some folks did to protect the graves of loved ones. These were like sheds that were built around the grave site(s). It was a custom of southern states from around the Civil War to the early 1900's. Peggy Gilkey sent me this link for a very interesting story about John Waggoner, Jr. who is recording the location of these grave houses and he uses dowsing rods to find where graves are located within a cemetery. Below is a look inside a grave house all decorated with flowers.

Read this story at http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/mar/30/man-locates-obscure-burial-grounds/ There is a video and a photo gallery. - JGWest

Marker/Plaque/Monument Monday

This Veterans Memorial Monument is located next to the Post Office in New Harmony, Indiana

Photo taken in July 2006 by JGWest

From My Email Box - "ATHS Book Fair & Workshop"

Ancestral Trails Historical Society Book Fair & Workshop will be held 18 April 2009 from 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. EDT at the Pritchard Community Center in Elizabethtown, KY.

Workshops:
Brandon Slone (10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. War of 1812 ancestors with emphasis on KY resources)
Kandie Adkinson (1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. Researching land patents, land warrants & land grants on line)

Workshops are $10.00 each.
Contact person - rosyogreaty@aol.com

- Submitted by JGWest