Ancestral Cemetery Hop!

 

 This massive old tree lives in an old cemetery I recently visited. Just think of the storms it has weathered over the years, yet it still stands strong because its roots run deep. I imagine that this old tree has seen great sadness, yet each spring new growth appears to provide shelter to the many woodland creatures who live there.
 
As I've started working on my family tree, I've found visiting old cemeteries to be helpful and a tangible way to connect with ancestors I never met. Finding their graves makes them more "real" to me, and more than an entry on my family tree.

So far, I've visited four area cemeteries where my ancestors are buried, including the one I'll share in this post. If you plan to do this, I'd suggest that you look on Find A Grave and do a search for your relatives prior to your visit. If there are photos posted, you will at least know the shape of the headstone to look for. In larger cemeteries, you may even find an attendant who can point you in the right direction. Cemeteries can be quite large and without some information, you can easily find yourself wandering!

I stopped by this particular cemetery on a whim as I was passing through the area. Daylight was dwindling so I had little time to find the family plot. The cemetery was a lot larger than I remembered it! Older stones are sometimes in very poor condition and hard to read, and that was definitely the case here. I walked through several rows and almost gave up.

Then I found it! The surname on this headstone is at the bottom, making it easy to miss. This is the grave of my 3rd great grandparents, Nathan and Harriet Lesan Blood. I hope to someday locate a picture of Harriet and Nathan in life but for now, a headstone is all I have.

You can see both of their names on my family tree. Thanks to my grandma, this particular part of my tree is very well documented and goes back a number of generations.

 In that same area, I found a child's grave which is obviously part of our family. But his name is not on my tree, so I'll need to do a little more research to discover where Willie belongs.

 

  I have photos of and many stories about Nathan and Harriet's son Lewis Blood, who was my 2nd great grandfather. He was a creative soul who designed and built many items with his hands, including a rocking chair for each of his children -- using wood from trees he had grown. (Now that's planning ahead!) He also designed a farm implement and received a patent for it, but never had the money to have it produced.

 

One of Lewis' sons was Arthur, my great grandfather. He died just a few months before I was born so I never had the opportunity to meet him. But my great grandmother Ada Martin Blood lived a very long life just up the street from where I grew up. A few years ago, I shared a post about re-upholstering a simple but lovely old chair that belonged to her.

 

 It was my grandma, Ada and Arthur's daughter, who extensively researched our family history and passed all of her work down to me. The more I research, the more appreciation I have for the vast array of family information she kept tucked away in her head. I can't begin to remember the facts and relationships she could share by memory, even at 102 years of age.

  Visiting old cemeteries is just part of the process of carrying on her research. I'm doing my best to build on her solid foundation, and I know she would be pleased with what I've been able to accomplish so far.

If we know WHERE we came from, we may better know where to go. If we know WHO we came from, we may better understand who we are.
Author Unknown