Born in 1836... I found his grave

[Fluidic Kimbo]

Two days ago I found my great-great-grandfather's grave.

He was born in 1836 and died in 1899, it's still the original headstone erected when he died 121 years ago.

There are 7 in the plot altogether:
- Great-great-grandfather + wife
- Great-grandfather + wife
- Three of my grandfather's siblings (one sister and two brothers)

It was my father's cousin's son who showed me to the grave, and he told me that the family have always dug their own family member's graves. This guy was there in the late 80's when the seventh coffin went down (and he described it in amazing detail -- including finding my g-g-gfather's skeleton). He took my email address and I told him to email me next time they dig a grave (even if it's 15 years from now).

[almostgone]

That's actually pretty awesome that y'all have a family plot.

[almostgone]

I live out in the country where there are some older small churches and usually the cemeteries consist of 3-4 different family names from the early1800s on. I have run up on several private family when out walking game management land during the lull in the hunting season. Actually showed 2 to a game warden that had no idea they were there. Most of the graves were only marked with a pile of rocks. There were a few w/ small headstones, but the names are spelled in an odd manner. It looks like it was common to chisel a letter "V" in place of a letter "U", etc. There was a large influence of French Huguenots in this area in the 1750s and also a decent sized Mennonite population. They were responsible for founding several communities/ cities in the area. Occasionally, you'll run up on old tools, etc.

[Fluidic Kimbo]

The plot is about 4 coffins wide. So if you stacked them 3 high, you'd get 12 in there.

They were digging the soil in the plot again in 1988 when my grandfather's brother died, he was the 7th coffin to go down, and they reached a skeleton. They needed to continue digging down to fit the 7th coffin in, so they put all the bones in a bag and lifted it out of the plot, then they dug a few feet further down, put the bag back in and laid the coffin on top of it, then filled in the soil. The plot's full now.

Husband and wife were always burried side by side even if it meant having an empty 'slot' in the plot.

That skelelton was either my gggfather or his wife, or my ggfather or his wife. The coffin, clothing and flesh was all rotted away, there was only bones.

My father's cousin's son told me that they only ever dug down to about 5ft. So this means you'd probably only get 8 in the plot instead of 12. The graves were dug with shovels and sweat so that might be why they only went down 5 feet.

Not sure where I'll be buried when I die, but I definitely want a grave instead of being cremated. The living need a monument to travel to when they're grieving (that's my opinion).

[almostgone]

The plot is about 4 coffins wide. So if you stacked them 3 high, you'd get 12 in there.

They were digging the soil in the plot again in 1988 when my grandfather's brother died, he was the 7th coffin to go down, and they reached a skeleton. They needed to continue digging down to fit the 7th coffin in, so they put all the bones in a bag and lifted it out of the plot, then they dug a few feet further down, put the bag back in and laid the coffin on top of it, then filled in the soil. The plot's full now.

Husband and wife were always burried side by side even if it meant having an empty 'slot' in the plot.

That skelelton was either my gggfather or his wife, or my ggfather or his wife. The coffin, clothing and flesh was all rotted away, there was only bones.

My father's cousin's son told me that they only ever dug down to about 5ft. So this means you'd probably only get 8 in the plot instead of 12. The graves were dug with shovels and sweat so that might be why they only went down 5 feet.

Not sure where I'll be buried when I die, but I definitely want a grave instead of being cremated. The living need a monument to travel to when they're grieving (that's my opinion).

The wife and I have opted for cremation, but everyone has the right to have their remains handled in the manner they desire.

I've heard of multiple bodies being "stacked" vertically in graves.I think it's a practical solution for families.

[almostgone]

The plot is about 4 coffins wide. So if you stacked them 3 high, you'd get 12 in there.

They were digging the soil in the plot again in 1988 when my grandfather's brother died, he was the 7th coffin to go down, and they reached a skeleton. They needed to continue digging down to fit the 7th coffin in, so they put all the bones in a bag and lifted it out of the plot, then they dug a few feet further down, put the bag back in and laid the coffin on top of it, then filled in the soil. The plot's full now.

Husband and wife were always burried side by side even if it meant having an empty 'slot' in the plot.

That skelelton was either my gggfather or his wife, or my ggfather or his wife. The coffin, clothing and flesh was all rotted away, there was only bones.

My father's cousin's son told me that they only ever dug down to about 5ft. So this means you'd probably only get 8 in the plot instead of 12. The graves were dug with shovels and sweat so that might be why they only went down 5 feet.

Not sure where I'll be buried when I die, but I definitely want a grave instead of being cremated. The living need a monument to travel to when they're grieving (that's my opinion).

The wife and I have opted for cremation, but everyone has the right to have their remains handled in the manner they desire provided it doesn't pose a health issue or local ordinances.

I've heard of multiple bodies being "stacked" vertically in graves.I think it's a practical solution for families.

[Fluidic Kimbo]

Personally I think that the whole point of a grave is to have a monument to the person. I realise in the case of cremation that the immediate family can keep an urn of ashes but that isn't really fair on friends and distant family members. When a person is buried in a grave, anyone can go up and spend some time at it. In fact just last week I tended to my friend's grave, and his family don't even know me! I went up with 8 bags of sand and 2 bags of pebbles.

[Fluidic Kimbo]

My expartner who died 4 years ago was cremated, and so I've no grave to visit. I really think it would have been a tremendous help to me if I could have visited her grave. I don't know what her family did with her ashes.