Historical Cemetery Tour

Our local Historical society has had a cemetery tour for the last few years and Bob and I always try to go. This year he was working so he couldn't go, but I went and was glad I did.
The Historical Society researches people who have been buried in our local cemetery, and then gets people to dress up and tell their story, at their grave site.

It was a dreary day, but at least it wasn't pouring - just a sprinkle now and then.

The first story we heard was about a girl who died at 17 years.  The quilt on the table next to her has been donated to the museum along with a doll that was hers when she was young.

As we walked from one grave to another, they had signs like this, telling the meaning behind different symbols found on tombstones.

This was the story of a man who had a lot of loss in his life.  His sister died when he was young, his first child died at one and then his wife died in childbirth.  He remarried and was married for 40 years before his second wife died.  One of his sons who was probably in his 70's was in the tour with us, and he was very touched to hear his Dad's story told.  The Eagle plaque is something this man made for the bicentennial.

This was the story of a man who enlisted in the army at a young age - 16, and fought in WWII.  He returned home and raised a family here, and several are still living.  I found this one interesting because I actually took care of his wife about 20 years ago before she died.  He had passed away before I cared for her.

 I think these old stones are so interesting.

It's hard to read this on the photo, but this ladies name was Bethsheba.  She died in the early 1900's.

 This man was portraying someone who ran the first ferry across the Grand River which is near our house.  He started it with his 9 year old brother and ran it until there was a bridge built across it.

He had pictures of some of the boats that ran there and the ferry.

This lady told the story of the first grave in the cemetery.  It was a 1 year old boy, whose parents donated the land that the cemetery is on, so that there would be a place for his burial.

She also talked about the diseases that caused so many deaths in that time, and also the strange things that were standard medical procedures at the time.

I think it's beautiful to walk through a cemetery and see the old stones, and even more interesting to hear the stories that go with them.  I'm glad our Historical Society does the work to put this together and share it.