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'.':7.',.,.:''';',.'":74: '', ,;'E' I ' ;.:: ,'::'. :: ' t,f': i, 'i : :' :,;:s '''' ..; , , '..'.: ,''".1. ;';' , ; , , , .' ;- .: : t''' .44 ' c: - :' ',.,,IS'..tf-::: '.;',1.1 )?':.:124,1!:'"7,?'?-1:,;1' :s .:::, :oe.- 1, ''' is ),.. - ' ' ,,',..);ir,..,."...41.,li,.,:,.A2s1,:es,11)4'..,t,,asts. :),;.:;," a little In Iowa cowitry the Gilberts. ss,, tr.: churchyard, the author found the graves of her Tin star on the stone at right indicates membership in the G.A.R. ".1 q,t2.Cr:frl,114,,. 4',.;' : .' your family tree (.:,t! . mild rim flenAdi..... c:....7y 0 ;r4 E onveyairels by Patricia R. McCoy IS Tribune Staff Writer ' .;. .', 1860s and 1870s, when there were relatively few communities with areas set aside for burial. Cons- ''';,...:,:ly.:1 ,...k.:, k 7...,.,::,, : , Finding , equently, farmers often simply fenced off a portion of their back forty, and great-greatgrandpa- 's pioneer settlers found their final resting place in such plots. many grave may be exactly what you need to do to fill in that missing link; that last date you just haven't been able to find in ' As a result, it seemed as though every time I turned a corner in the road, I any civil records or family Bibles you've looked at. My own personal graveyard hunting has taken place mainly in western Iowa, where I definitely found family research a bit more difficult than usual. The: people I was looking for moved into the area north of Ames, Iowa, in the . i i i l I i 1 I 5 would see some new group of he.adstones off in the distance. Seeing them in that roiling prairie country is one thing. Getting to them proved to be a different story. MY ROUTE took me through fields on some of the narrowest farm lanes imaginable. Because it had . 1 rrl t: 7!.3,,,,,.,:.;,,:',',,..,,' .t!'T:: ', :...; ;:'..:. , 1 ! '': ; '' ,i.. Tr, reo, 0,,NIC, TAt, 19Vrii..,0MCCO..,,ri.,,,,: "..r.017.. ; v,.:. .,.::: '''.. ;'5J.: ;--.; i.,: .:, I .'....:. : ..1.;. .; ,: , ,:. ' , ,..,: ;i'':.'' r:I'lr;''Z' : :. ;:..... ,::,'. - ....,'''.: .:', : ' ' ' ' '',..: ,.: ,' - :,.'s. ; - ::': ; 7.:, ; t:' ..: . :', v:::;,;.,...,,,;, - '' - ' ,,:: 1 records in the local county clerk's office. usually. Be frequently doesn't have the records, but he can direct me to someone who may. It's usually fairly easy to "skim" headstones, and I have learned to stride quickly up and down the rows from one end to the other. In this manner, it doesn't take long to complete the research in most graveyards. All this digging did pay rained the night before I began my search, I frequently found myself faced with driving through very muddy, murky puddles and was often relieved to remember I'd seen some farm buildings just over the next bluff. Even so, before the day was through, I had mud on my car all the way around, clear up to the windows. There were times when I parked the car, looked cautiously around for any dangerous-lookin- off for me. Not only did I live- g find stoc k, climbed a fence and side that of who was killed by lightning cemeteries. All this brings up questions of trespass laws, of course, but I didn't allow myself to worry about them. It would have been obvious to anyone that I meant no harm when I had nothing in my hands but a notepad and pen. I'y 3ne '9,' -- t th : lily , . 141 U 1 ,2 .1'1: 1 : '' , !..7.'' ..r-,,- 7-: ''' 6. 7. ''7s :. ' ': , - ...::, v .4, : ' .' :''''. i .,' ' '' - k: ' '::, ' ' ' ' '. ,.: k ' ,:: '2'!:i: , ,it' ", ; ,' ..,. - ;::':'. '''..1 :. " ' ; : . 2 , ,., :: : , , , ,4 . ; , , ;;--.- t .:r..:;11 , 4 ,r1:,,--,',- .', i:..; ,' .''.' : ' .,' ,.. , : .. .: ,' ,..',1 '.; )4,.; 2.,,,' :.:1 . - - ':". ; ; ' ' cielsei to one was Tht City. Checking ,e,ish, attendants '14 .: , f; ' ,, ' ,,,';',,.': lil- 21 . .,.'; '''',. ' 4 :':: . ,f :::: .; , ;'', .. : ,:,' ' ,.' z, , ' 7 '.. ' ':' ' " ' ,.. ; ,' :' .;:' 1. ,: ,...; i' ' : f- ! '. ('.', :'' ''..........' ' ' '.'' ,,'Nf"',4.,:,. ... ,..,. IF , .,.- ,, , .:: ' .i :; '':zt L 4.: i , ;, '.,;',- t ',..;, . ', , '1 , t F:','' '',, ular, many of cemeteries were . . : ':. , '' , .' ; ': i ' ' ,1 !.' ., ; i4';'....::;,,..:i..,;,-,,:,,,...,,- Salt t&: saves t ' ' ' Lake time. .1 the over- grown with weeds and brjars. There were only narrow, pathways dividing them up into large sections. On such occasions, it is best to locate whoever keeps the cemetery records, and that in itself can be a chore. Some pioneer grass-covere- abandoned and their records are in the hands of the grandson of the last sexton for instance. t start looking for 'such Arc- hives. Those who go looking for graves in cemeteries should be aware that this can be a tedious proposition for many reasons. Besides the difficulties I had in reaching some of the cemeteries in Iowa, there's the difficulty of having enough time to wander, as I did for an entire day, until you get lucky and just cemeteries have been , : tf:',..,.:.: .., happen to stumble across the right cemetery., '. 7it ::;.:,:::i;:::,,,,t t ''' ;,,i:i' ';' te. Ai i ti i'-- ;;!A ft: .5,'.1.,..,,;,;-- : , - ,Ar. ,:::- - '!;,',?..V.:;''!?:.'',;,,.. rp,,,z4 ,. ' L't 'J.... ? .; ' 4, '...2 :4...;,q', i'gl ",':::4',V',:, ,;',, I .,,, t " ' '' ,,s'-.,,,- :i'' : ' t ''''t,' sr:' 7., ...:,;,,,:,; '.;, .V:i i 1:, .'.','1 :, 1 " ,','' ' '' 1 ' '... L;0''''; McCoy plot in Hubbard, Iowa. Names and dates form a valuabie record. Upon arriving at the cemetery, after asking for directions, I stopped to stare at it in dismay. It was fairly large, and there through the National d , ,.; THAT TIN star was inscribed with GAR, 1861- 1865. indicating be had served in the Grand Army of the Republic, or on the Union side of the Civil War. It was the first I'd known he'd served. Armed with that information, I was able to arrange to get copies of military records e p'';4';'.'11'.1' grave. (one 's ON OCCASION, the cemeteries I found were simply too large to make a i This problem can be somewhat simplified if you know the religious affiliation of your ancestors. I remember searching one graveyard in Wisconsin that was spread out on two sides of the road. year before Iowa started issuing death certificates), but I also noted with much interest a tin star standing beside in 1879 search impractical. When I was in Wales, in partic,. 's grave, alonghis first wife walked to the small headstone-by-headston- great-greatgranddad- P' ti 'XI: !,;,:.; 'r ,: .,,,',12.7.,t,' ' '..;?L; 4.,:i!..;';:s'4,'44 ' tT; i';e.."..,;,' SLEUTHING out the family tree is an interesting pastime for many persons, and one that can land you in !some strange places like graveyards. ' 0,,....;.',' i ,,i ' i?., ! : , ;I ,p. ,',.-- qt, i) s'e- ,, , I.: I ;ill, s'; ; - g headwere stones in both sections on either side of the road. TO MY relief, I noticed a man in the graveyard on one side who was digging a grave. Hopefully I parked and approached him. "Are there any Carver, Smiley or Beebe graves in this cemetery?" I asked. "Oh, ya," he answered in a heavily accented voice. "Dey all over der on de Met'odist side. Dis de Lut'eran side." Later I teamed that the practice was quite common until relatively recent years, and is still followed by some churches. Indeed, some will allow no one but members of their own congregation to be buried in the church plot, which means some elderly persons who bury a spouse and then move across country to live with a son or daughter may refuse to transfer their church 1 membership because they want to rest beside the spouse when their own totr et, time comes. SOME MAY question the 3. degree to which one should accept the accuracy of headstone inscriptions. Dates obtained in this manner are not considered as accurate as those you might find in a family Bible, a diary or on a marriage license. However, if you have no other source for the date, information from headstones can be very helpful. My own experience has been that such dates prove out well. For instance, no one knew the exact date of (Ste page 10) .t -- |