It is the stuff of legends, an 83 year old Grandmother on her death bed whispering in my ear, "on the townline there is a cemetery with three of our family buried there in an unmarked cemetery, be sure to find it huh?"
That was 11 years ago, and I have yet to find the cemetery. Our official start on this farm began in 1746 when my Great grandfather many times removed died at the Louisburg Siege, and for his loss, his father was awarded the farm here. hardly loyal, we fought for the Rebels and was allowed to keep what we had been given.
As far as I know, three family members lay in simple slate marked graves, but where? Perhaps my Grandmother was wrong?
Then I talked to a land surveyor and he said he saw it the headstones, but it is in such a remote area that he could never find it again. I asked my neighbor, and she said her husband found it as well while hunting up there, but could never find his way back. My own hunt has come up short. I have even checked the Registry of Deeds, checked oil maps for gravel (old cemeteries are always located in gravel banks), and searched the northeast side of hills as only the soil would be deep enough there for a grave. All to no avail.
With the cost of property taxes, the area has been logged heavily, so I do worry. Not that any logger would destroy a cemetery purposely, but because in deep snow they might not notice it, and crush the delicate slate headstones.
So 11 years later, the search continues...
That was 11 years ago, and I have yet to find the cemetery. Our official start on this farm began in 1746 when my Great grandfather many times removed died at the Louisburg Siege, and for his loss, his father was awarded the farm here. hardly loyal, we fought for the Rebels and was allowed to keep what we had been given.
As far as I know, three family members lay in simple slate marked graves, but where? Perhaps my Grandmother was wrong?
Then I talked to a land surveyor and he said he saw it the headstones, but it is in such a remote area that he could never find it again. I asked my neighbor, and she said her husband found it as well while hunting up there, but could never find his way back. My own hunt has come up short. I have even checked the Registry of Deeds, checked oil maps for gravel (old cemeteries are always located in gravel banks), and searched the northeast side of hills as only the soil would be deep enough there for a grave. All to no avail.
With the cost of property taxes, the area has been logged heavily, so I do worry. Not that any logger would destroy a cemetery purposely, but because in deep snow they might not notice it, and crush the delicate slate headstones.
So 11 years later, the search continues...
