Another "lost" Cemetery Found!

Indiana Bones our resident "cemetery geek" has found yet another "lost" cemetery.  Well, it was not exactly lost... it was just unknown to a large group of family members that did not know it even existed until just very recently.  Indiana did not go on a field trip to stand in the cemetery, but he did find a great land plat online showing the plat of the property and the cemetery.  The cemetery is also long distance in Chatham County, North Carolina.

As many of you know Indiana Bones is my alter-ego that is far more adventurous than I am... it is like Superman and the mild-mannered reporter, Clark Kent!  Putting it another way, when Indiana gets involved things get done.  This West Cemetery is listed on Find-A-Grave and was visited back in 1990.  Here is some of the info that Indiana found:
065    WEST [D54.1]
Location - Hadley Township. 1500 feet south of SR 1547, Rock Rest Road, 1.3 miles east of SR 1520, Old NC 87
Coordinates: 35d 48m 17.0s N; 79d 11m 31.0s W Click here for Google maps
On 14 July 1990, the cemetery was visited by Will Heiser, with David and Judith Peterson, property owners, Jerry and Cathy Markatos, neighbors, and Lamont Norwood. On 2 February 2000, Judith Peterson sent to Will Heiser a transcription of the grave markers with supplemental information on dates and family relationships furnished by Dr. C. Nash Herndon, a descendant of the West and Mann families.
Owner: David W. and Judith S. Peterson.
Legal Description: Deed 556-75, 27 Mar 1990, Plat 90-13, 12 Jan 1990.
Topo Quadrant: Bynum.
Family owned: Yes.
Abandoned: Yes.
Number of graves: 30.
Cemetery size: 70' x 100'.
White: Yes.
Restricted access: Yes. Accompanied by owner
Overgrown and easy to identify: Yes.
Not identified explanation: Current owners plan to maintain.
Enclosed: No.
Enclosed conditions: Evidence of old cedar gate posts.
Markers: Yes.
Markers with inscriptions: Yes.
Number of readable markers: 17.
Last burial: 1885.
First burial: 1814.
Markers damaged: Yes.
Damage from vandalism: Yes.
Other damage explanation: Weathering of soapstone.
Significant events: Original West plantation dating from 1780s.
Miscellaneous information: Dr. C. Nash Herndon, Winston-Salem is descendant of Mann and West families.


Curl, Jean (West)   (b. 14 Jul 1789 - d. 19 Jun 1814)
Daughter of Ignatius and Elizabeth Meacham West. 5th child. Location row 2. column 5.
Durham, Cynthia Jane (West)   (b. 8 Aug 1834 - d. 23 May 1857)
1st Wife of Sidney Franklin Durham. Daughter of Isaac and Sabra Petty West (7th child). "The spirit is not dead though low the body lies buried from pain and sorrow to dwell beyond the skies. Meet me in Heaven.". Location row 2. column 4.
Durham, D. E.   (b. 16 Jul 1870 - d. 30 Jul 1870)
Child of Dicea Lucinda West and Sidney Franklin Durham. Footstone: DED. Location row 2. column 1.
Durham, Dicea Lucinda (West)   (b. 11 Jun 1838 - d. 17 Jul 1870)
2nd Wife of Sidney Franklin Durham. Daughter of Isaac and Sabra (Petty) West (8th child). Location row 2. column 2.
Durham, Sidney Franklin   (b. 16 Apr 1833 - d. )
Husband of Cynthia Jane West and Dicea Lucinda West Durham. Location row 2. column 3.
Mann, Isaac H.   (b. 12 Apr 1815 - d. 2 Jun 1848)
Footstone: IHM. Location row 1. column 7.
Mann, John Jones   (b. 21 Mar 1790 - d. 13 Jul 1875)
Husband of Karenhappuch (West) Mann. Son of Roland and Barbara Holstein Mann. Footstone: JJM. Location row 1. column 8.
Mann, John W.   (b. 9 Aug 1827 - d. 1 Nov 1862)
Footstone: JWM. Location row 1. column 5.
Mann, Karen Happuch (West)   (b. 5 Jun 1797 - d. 16 Jul 1856)
Wife of John Jones Mann. Daughter of Ignatius and Elizabeth Meacham West. "Happy". Location row 1. column 7.
Perry, Kezia (West)   (b. 4 Feb 1792 - d. 30 May 1814)
Daughter of Ignatius and Elizabeth Meacham West. 6th child. Location row 2. column 6.
Powell, Lucy (West)   (b. 14 Mar 1779 - d. 2 Jul 1824)
Wife of Obed Powell. Daughter of Ignatius and Elizabeth Meacham West (1st child). Location row 2. column 7.
West, Ignatius   (b. 13 Dec 1750 - d. 1 Jun 1831)
Husband of Elizabeth Meacham West. Son of Thomas, Sr. and Lucy West.
West, Ira   (b. 16 Jun 1821 - d. 24 May 1852)
Husband of Susan Dark. 2nd child of Isaac and Sabra Petty West. "Blessed are the dead which die in he Lord from henceforth yea sayeth the spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works do follow them. Rev. XIV:13.". Location row 1. column 3.
West, Isaac   (b. 11 Oct 1794 - d. 28 Oct 1862)
Husband of Sabra (Petty) West. Son of Ignatius and Elizabeth Meacham West. Location row 1. column 2.
West, Kezia   (b. 10 Feb 1830 - d. 13 Nov 1853)
Child of Isaac and Sabra Petty West. 6th child. Location row 1. column 4.
West, Sabra Petty   (b. 7 Mar 1796 - d. 2 Sep 1885)
Wife of Isaac West. Location row 1. column 1.
West, William H.   (b. 16 Oct 1856 - d. 28 Apr 1857)
Son of Jesse B. and Julia (Petty) West. Footstone: WHW. Hand lettered. Location row 3. column 4.
Ignatius West (marked in blue above) was born in 1750 and died in1831 was a brother to Thomas West, Jr. and Richard West (along with other siblings).  A cousin Ron Roy & Indiana Bones worked together, online, to put this all together.  [Ron is a descendant of Richard West.]  Ron found several of the deeds where Ignatius West owned the property (it is in metes & bounds, which is much harder to use, especially 200 years later).  Then using a handy topographic map of Hadley Township (Bynum, NC) we could easily see where Dry Creek empties into Haw River as the deed describes.  This map shows a high area (hill) that is about where the plat shows the cemetery to be.  A search on Google Maps shows the area to be covered by trees.

- Reported by Indiana Bones

Lost Cemeteries and Discovered Unknown Graves

Yesterday's Evansville Courier & Press ran another interesting story on lost & discovered grave sites that seem to be found by accident by contractors doing some sort of construction/excavating work.  Read the online article at this link:

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2013/jan/26/there-are-unknown-grave-sites-among-us/

"According to state law, anyone who finds human remains or artifacts must notify the Department of Natural Resources within two days. So when a historic cemetery is unearthed, Jeannie Regan-Dinius hears about it. She is the cemetery registry coordinator at the Indiana Department of Natural Resources' division of historic preservation and archaeology."

The article mentions the SHAARD cemetery database - this "database is part of the Indiana State Historic Architectural and Archaeological Database, also known as SHAARD. The database is available online at http://bit.ly/WrOp8D. From that page, click the 'Enter SHAARD as a guest' link to access the database."  You will be required to accept their terms and conditions and then on the next page you will select the survey type... select "cemetery registry"  I just entered Vanderburgh County & Perry Township in the search box and got all the cemeteries registered in that township.  One is listed as "Forgotten Cemetery" dubbed by Glenda Trapp when we (TSGS) copied the cemetery in 1983 (that was nearly 30 years ago) by Glenda, Bonnie Fehd and her son Andrew with John G. West.  This was published in the Vanderburgh two-volume set of cemetery inscription books that many TSGS members helped transcribe grave markers in the smaller cemeteries of the county.  These books are for sale and still available.  The page of who is buried there was photocopied from our publication.  There is a military marker possibly from the Civil War in this "forgotten cemetery."

This SHAARD cemetery database is a great registry for Indiana's cemeteries and hopefully will help prevent some from being lost, forgotten or destroyed.

- Compiled by JGWest

TSGS Web Site

It has been some time since I mentioned our TSGS web site here on the blog.  On 14 Dec 2008, we began using a new counter with a cool world map that maintained some interesting facts about where many of our visitors to the site were checking us out.  The counter is named ClustrMaps.  Since we began its use, we have gotten 13,926 hits from all over the world.  In addition to the United States, we have been visited by at least one person from 46 countries with Germany leading the way, 42 hits; next is Canada with 31 visits; 25 from Taiwan; United Kingdom (GB) had 19; and Ireland finished the top 5 with 10 hits!

Over the last three years, we have had a total of 9,953 hits around the world, of these the United States had 9,731 with Indiana getting a huge bulk of these visits (4,192).  The other two states in the Tri-State area were Illinois with 598 hits and Kentucky had 572.  These were the top 3 and the following are the remainder of the top 10: California 492, Texas 312, Michigan 310, Florida 256, Ohio 248, Missouri 209, and Tennessee with 171.

When you go to our web site - http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~intsgs/index.html 
scroll to the bottom center and click on the map to see graphically on a world map where our visits are located and a list of states and countries with their totals.

The wide spread of these hits explains why we have so many TSGS members scattered all over the U.S.A.

- Compiled by JGWest

Old Unknown Cemetery Found

An old cemetery has been discovered on the grounds of the State Hospital... this is not the first discovery of unmarked, forgotten graves on these grounds.  The Evansville Courier is reporting the discovery: http://www.courierpress.com/news/2013/jan/14/no-headline---pedestrian_bridge/

Read the article and let us know what you think about the story and what you remember of past stories similar to this one.

TSGS Hall of Shame - Destroyed Cemetery

From the Minnesota Public Radio web site:
MOORHEAD, Minn. — The last time anyone was buried in the Boerner family cemetery in Grant County was in 1892. For about 20 years before that, it was where early settlers laid at least 10 family members to rest. A small grove of trees at the cemetery was gone. When investigators got a search warrant they found evidence of what Minnesota's state archeologist says is a growing concern, the destruction after years of abandonment of one of the state's thousands of small cemeteries.  The farmer whose field included the cemetery acknowledged clearing the cemetery... damaging a cemetery can be a felony under Minnesota law even if it's abandoned. Even though the farmer owns the land, the cemetery is protected.

 

Top left cluster of trees has been removed in the lower photo... the Boerner Cemetery WAS in those trees!

Photo below are photos of grave markers that were in this cemetery!!!

 

 

Read more about this shameful act of disregard of human dignity and respect:

Pioneer cemeteries fall under plow's threat          by Dan Gunderson,

Minnesota Public Radio                                       

December 28, 2012

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/12/28/human-interest/lost-cemetaries/

TSGS Cruiser Blog reported this article from the Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter (EOGN).

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

The Tri-State Genealogical Society wishes everyone a very Merry Christmas!!!

As you visit family & friends today and the days between now and the beginning of 2013, think about getting more information about your more recent family history. 

A great Christmas gift for today or the next few days might be a brief family history from the person you are gifting as far back as you have proven.  Print it out and put it into a loose leaf notebook that you can slide a title page into the front cover of the notebook.  Consider using the clear plastic page protectors so that the pages will last longer... and you will not have to punch holes in the sheets of paper!  I have given several of these as special Christmas gifts over the years, and I will tell you that they were especially appreciated.

John G. West, TSGS Vice-President

TSGS Christmas Social Tonight!

The Tri-State Genealogical Society invites you to attend tonight's Christmas Social.  Everyone is welcome, you do not need to be a member to come and have some refreshments and enjoy other family historians company.  Tell each other your problems in your family research.  Tell others about this year's adventures finding new information about your ancestors.

Come & go as you please anytime between 6:30 and 8:00 PM.  Indiana Bones is expected to show up.  Santa has said he will show or send one of his representatives.  Bring your camera and have your photo taken!  Ho! HO! HO!