----- ............Cemetery Walk: An afternoon of discovery! Every stone has a story. And they are waiting to be told........... -----

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Wednesday's Child

Lillie, Daughter of Tom & Mary Wenzler
Born March 20, 1877, Died July 18, 1877
Riverview Cemetery, Clarksville, Montgomery Co., TN

Lillie Wenzler Headstone, Riverview Cem, Clarksville Montgomery Co TN

Lillie Wenzler Headstone, Riverview Cem, Clarksville Montgomery Co TN

Lillie Wenzler Headstone, Riverview Cem, Clarksville Montgomery Co TN

A family tree on Ancestry.com lists her as Elizabeth Lillie, daughter of Thomas and Mary Cunningham Wenzler.

Beautiful symbolism in the rocks, cross and scroll.

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Joseph Wortick

Joseph Wortick was a Union Army soldier during the American Civil War. He received the Medal of Honor for gallantry during the Siege of Vicksburg on May 22, 1863. 

Joseph Wortick Headstone, © Digital Cemetery Walk
Leon Cemetery, Butler Co., KS

Wikipedia (Information)
Geni.com (Photograph)
Online information with multiple surname spellings

Sunday, December 28, 2014

Feedly Button

I've added the Feedly button to my side bar.

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Ted Wallace

Ted Wallace, an inmate of the state reformatory died suddenly today. 

The cause of his death was not known. He was received from Coffey County Nov. 25, last for grand larceny. Officials of the institution are endeavoring to get in touch with relatives. He is believed to have a mother living in San Francisco.


Hutchinson News 
Wednesday, February 25, 1931, Page 2

In an attempt by person(s) unknown to keep the simple stones marked 2 now have Ted's name on them at the same Reformatory Cemetery on the present day prison. How sad that no family was found or claimed his body.




Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Wednesday's Child: Annie Lawton

Annie is the daughter of Mary Craig and Major General Henry W. Lawton, who led the pursuit of Geronimo in 1886.

Buried: Ft. Huachuca Post Cemetery, Cochise County, AZ. Section 3, Lot 55

Based on a letter written by her mother, (linked below) weeks after Annie's death it is a good guess that she was under the age of 2.

Annie's parents are buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Annie Lawton Grave

Annie Lawton Grave
Died April 26, 1887
Annie Lawton Grave

Please take time to read this heartbreaking letter that Mary wrote to her mother the month following Annie's death. Perhaps Annie was named after her grandmother, Mary's mother, Annie Craig.

Major General Lawton was killed in 1899. In the 1900 Jefferson County, KY federal census Mary Lawton is widowed with 4 children at home. The census record states she has 4 of 7 children living. If Annie is one of them I wonder where the other two were buried since they moved around a lot with his military career.

Information links for Major General Henry Lawton

1 Henry Ware Lawton
2 Henry Ware Lawton

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Tombstone Tuesday: Baby in the Glass

Today I'm sharing information about a grave that I photographed in 2012. Thanks to Patrick Clement for permission to use his online article.


Baby in the glass
Fairview Cemetery - Kiowa County, KS

Perhaps one of the most infamous and bizarre attractions inside Greensburg's Fairview Cemetery is what locals have come to call "The baby in the glass." The above ground baby mausoleum has fueled speculation for years about its unknown history and unusual characteristics.

While many wonder about the motivation or possible purpose of the memorial, there is no questioning that it is a marker for a baby who passed away on the same day as her birth.

The headstone is a glass fronted cave measuring about one and a half feet tall and is located in the old section of the local cemetery.

Some say the child was born to a family who was passing though Greensburg.
Others say they remember the family and that they owned a large black sedan that would burp plumes of ebony smoke.

Former cemetery sexton Ed Schoenberger said that when he discovered the headstone around 1989. He said the front glass had been broken and that there were shards strewn across the cemetery lawn.


Schoenberger didn't say if someone had broken into it, or if something had broken out of it. He did dismiss the notion that the child had been buried above ground inside of the glass and stone enclosure but said it was filled with strange wires. But one could wonder about the make-up of a man that so enjoys the company of the deceased he would make it his occupation.

Schoenberger said he spent hours piecing together the broken glass to decipher the writing, which revealed the father's name and the date of the baby's birth and death.

The front glass identified it as the grave of the "Daughter of F.L. Scott." The birthday and day of death are both listed as July 26, 1925 though local papers never reported on the passing of the baby girl.

Interestingly the information, which revealed the name of the father and the date of death, were painted on backwards… from the inside of the tomb.

Article appeared online November 1, 2012

Monday, September 8, 2014

State by State

I spent a few hours today organizing my files before I create a new backup schedule and the task of tagging in Lightroom.

Cemeteries by state

AL 21
AR 2
AZ 4
FL 6
GA 35
KS 246
KY 1
MO 7
NM 3
NY 17
OK 6
TN 3
TX 9
VA 1



Summer Cemetery Walks

I didn't blog this Spring and Summer but I did take a few cemetery walks in my travels. 

Arizona (Cochise County)
Boothill Graveyard
Ft. Huachuca Post
Southern Arizona Veterans
Tombstone Cemetery Old

Kansas (Butler, Cherokee, Riley, Pottawattimie & Sedgwick Counties)
Crocker
Leon
Pets Rest
Sunset 
Wamego City

New Mexico (De Baca and Dona Ana Counties)
Garden of Memories
Ft. Sumner
Ft. Sumner Old

Rainbow at headstone
Ft. Sumner Cemetery, De Baca Co., NM

My list is now 361 cemeteries that I have photographed. Most are partial, but a large number are complete at the time I visited. 

I need to decide "what" to do with all of my photos. I opted not to renew my Flickr account this year, so the organization I had no longer applies to the work posted there. 

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Waiting on Spring

It feels like it has been Winter forever. After a week of wonderful warm days we are back to cold gray skies. Sigh. I have a short list of post ideas and need to carve out the time to get back on a blogging schedule.

We're in the middle of a major remodel, which affects my work space, and I am continuing to oversee the care of my Daddy. He health has declined rapidly since last summer. Prayers are appreciated.

I can always count on these to get me through the dreary days. I love my small library of cemetery related books, along with others on genealogy, photography and cooking.

Cemetery Books

Monday, January 6, 2014

Sears Tombstones

Happy New Year!

I'm sharing pages from Sears catalogs about tombstones. I would love to own original monument catalogs or even digital copies.

I often see many of these styles in the cemetery.

Sears Catalog, Tombstones
Sears Catalog Spring 1911

Sears Catalog, Tombstones
Sears Catalog Fall 1915