Question about old cemetaries and houses....

[easttexasdigger]

I have a question I think I am only gonna be able to get answered on here. When you find an old family cemetary, about how far was it usually placed from the old houseplace? I am trying to locate the location of where an old house might have sat. The old cemetary has graves dating back to before Texas won its independence, and I know it was customary in those start a family cemetary not far from the home place. So does anyone know an estimate on how far people used to plot the cemetaries from the house, or is there just no way of knowing? I think there are probably some cool relics around the old house place if I just knew about where to start looking. Thanks- Shane

 

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[Produce Guy]

I'm gonna say about a 100 yards or more,some of these old cemetaries up here in Austin and in the hill country have 'em sitting at about 100 yards or so from the house.

 

[Swartzie]

The last homesite I hunted had a family plot and it was a little more than a hundred yards from the home like Produce Guy said. I never knew there was a plot there until the township erected a marker and started to maintain the plot. They put in a real nice granite marker with all the names on it. http://www.piketownship.com/DefaultL2.aspx?PageL2Id=6 Kudos to them.

-Swartzie

 

[easttexasdigger]

Thanks so much for the info,....that ought to help.

 

[Cass]

Hi Tex, one way to help get an idea about where a house would have been located would be to check whatever land records possible and see if you can find land owners(way back of course) and a "legal land description" you can match to a TOPO, and then pick the "most likely suitable" location nearest the cemetery. You have to assume that the earliest homesite would have been in place before the need of picking the cemetery site. I have seen graves within just a few feet of old home sites, but I agree with the 100 yds being a good place to begin. HH, Cass

 

[dirty_digger]

Also, look for the flowers this spring. I have found countless old flowerbeds. Many flowers come back every year. It might even be some different grasses. But that will lead you to the front of the house place usually. Then you will notice the lil things like rocks, bricks, woods and the like!!!!

DD

 

[cassrh]

I'd like to share a story about "my cemetery" and 1850's homestead. Several years ago, I was lucky enough to finally lease a large ranch for deer hunting. The owner was a man in the mid-70's, and meaner than a junk yard dog. He talked very little, never smiled, and always gruff. From the start, he made it clear that if I, or any of my fellow hunters violated any of his ranch rules, we would never set foot on his property again. One of his rules was to leave everything as you found them. (he had a lot more). During the first year I was exploring various hunting sites, and came across a long-abandoned family cemetery. The weeds were waist high and the area was covered in huge cactus piles. The oldest headstone was from 1870, and the latest one was 1940. Most of the others were from 1920- 1935. There was also a row of 5 small, unidentified above-ground graves that were obviously children's graves, and several markers that were just field stones. Right then, I made a promise to those buried there that it would never be allowed to get in that condition again. For the next month I cleared brush, cut cactus, repaired broken headstones, and finally, it looked like a park. Clean and beautiful again. During this time, I recorded all the information from the headstones so I could do some research on the family buried there. Anyway, about three weeks later, I had just driven in the ranch gate and ol' Grumpy drove in behind me. From his expression, he was gruffer than usual. He walked up to me and said " what the hell is the story about my cemetery". I was really caught off guard. He was not being friendly at all. I told him that I happened upon it, didn't like its condition, and decided to clean it up. His expression didn't change. He said "whyd you doit". I knew then, I was toast. I explained that in my opinion, no cemetery deserves to be neglected, and I intended to keep it that way. Tears formed in his eyes. He reached out and shook my hand, something he had never offered before, and proceeded to tell me that he had not been in that cemetery since his father was buried there in 1940. He discovered the work only because he was following the car tracks that I made during the clean up. That hateful, gruff old man became my dearest friend, and I hope his. He even smiles(when nobody else is looking). Eventually, he told me of the original homestead location - about 100 yds North of the cemetery, and another one on the other side of the ranch that was burned by Indians in 1870. One of the folks buried in the cemetery was killed by them during that raid. I will be detecting both locations in the near future - nobody else knows of their location.

 

[lastleg]

What a great post! This one made my day.

 

[missmetaldetectingdiva]

Great story cassrh, thanks for sharing!