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!