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Sunday, October 11, 2015

Historical Cemetery Tour

The Historical Society in our town hosted their second annual cemetery tour on Saturday.  I went last year and really enjoyed it, so was looking forward to this years tour.   Bob had the day off and was able to come to.
Members of the historical society research people who are buried in our cemetery, then dress up to fit the era and tell the persons story at their gravesite.

It was a beautiful, sunny day, perfect for strolling through the cemetery.


 The path we were to follow had signs along the way that gave information about the meaning of different things you might see on a tombstone.


 Our first stop was at the tombstone of Dora Velzy who died in the early 1900's at the age of 23.  The woman pictured was acting out a newspaper reporter.  Dora's death was reported because she had murdered her boyfriend, then killed herself.  This was big news in a small community at that time.


 This was the town blacksmith, who was forced out of business when people started driving cars instead of using horses.


This man portrayed a Swedish man who ran a little store and whose sons later started a quickstop restaurant.  The restaurant failed, because most people didn't go out to eat at that time.


This lady told of a family who immigrated from Germany.  In the area they came from, the oldest child inherited the farm, whether they were male or female.  In this families case, the oldest was a daughter, so she inherited the farm.  When she married, her husband took her last name, so it stayed attached to the farm.  Isn't that interesting, and unusual?



 This antique, horse drawn hearse was also on display. 


 This an was portraying a vagabond, someone who became sick and died in the area, who had no money.  He was buried in a potters field, at the edge of the cemetery.  This was something that no one in our little group was even aware was there.


This was our last stop.  This was a young man from our town who volunteered to fight in the Civil War.  He came back from the war, but died a few years later, never recovering from dysentery, which he contracted during the war.

It's so interesting to hear stories of those who were here before us.  I hope they do this again!

16 comments:

Jean said...

I'm going to share this post with a guy from our church. He is a history fanatic and does a lot of travel to collect data, often visiting historical graves.

Very interesting!

Betsy Brock said...

Very fun...and it looks like you had lovely weather, too!

Bethany Carson said...

That does sound very interesting! There are a few unmarked graves on the edge of one of our local cemeteries.

Brenda said...

What an neat idea to see into the lives of those before us. The vagabond was an interesting one.

Sally said...

How interesting, Mari.

I don't know why, but I've always enjoyed visiting, especially, the older cemeteries. There's one in St Augustine that dates way back also.

xoxo

Linda said...

Thanks Mari, that was interesting. My husbands grandfather was a Oddfellow. Unfort. the chapter was recently disbanded here, money embezzlement. ANYWAYS---thanks for sharing and that hearse was just creepy. Blessings

Arlene G said...

How interesting Mari!! I love this kind of thing.

Ramblings of a Retired Lady said...

I love it! I have always enjoyed (that seems crazy to say) going to cemeteries and especially the old ones. We have one here and in the spring, it is beautiful with all the flowers and trees in bloom. Thank you for sharing the one near you, what a great thing to do for a day.

Doris said...

Interesting!

Terri D said...

This is so interesting, Mari! I LOVE story-tellers and think this is such a great idea! Wow.

Nancy said...

Mari, this is so interesting. I have never known of this being done. It really brings to life those who are long passed with the different people playing the role they played in life.....I wish that was done in my area....

Patsy said...

We have a day like this in our large history filled cemetery.
I see life has been busy for you, hope to catch up on everyone.

Brooke said...

you always have the most interesting events around where you live!

Amy at love made my home said...

What a fascinating way to bring history to life! xx

Cherdecor said...

This is the best historical idea I have seen yet. I should send this post to the historical society here in town. They need to do something worth while rather than talking about ghosts in the grave yard.

Jenny said...

You know how much I love this. The hearse is perfect. xoxo