Photo Monument

My Photo Monument article is on the Graveyard Rabbit Online Journal...Hop on over!

GYR Carnival...

...has been resurrected.

Theme: Favorite cemetery photo, taken by me.

This was a fast and easy one for me. My favorite cemetery photo, taken by me, hasn't changed in a long while. It is the stone of Georgia Mustian Davis located in the historic Linwood Cemetery in my hometown of Columbus, GA.

This cemetery offered many walks to clear my mind when my Mama was dying and during many other difficult times. 

I featured it in a 2009 blog post. I added a few updates to the original post which you can see HERE.

Hint: a portion of it is my header photo.

Photo Essay

My post, Photo Monument: a photo essay, was posted over on the Online Journal of The Association of Graveyard Rabbits, where I served as online editor for a year.

Stop by if you have time. I share about the West Point Cemetery of Kingman County, Kansas.

Photo essay: A set or series of photographs that tell a story or evoke emotions in the viewer.

Photo Essay

My GYR Photo Monument article for 2/10/11:

Photo Monument: A Grave Photo Essay

What is a photo essay?

Change

I don't make new year's resolutions. I did, however, make myself a promise and that was too simplify my life in the coming year. Life and health demand change. To do that required many hard decisions and letting go. Not all were genealogy or cemetery related, but a few were.

I have resigned as the editor for the Graveyard Rabbit Association Online Journal. I enjoyed interacting with others that share an interest in cemeteries. I do plan to continue to author the column "Photo Monument" as well as this blog.

Are you the next GYR online editor? If you have an interest drop footnoteMaven a note.

I'm looking forward to what this year holds for me. Most importantly, my son returning home from Afghanistan, safely.

PFC Rodney Clayton Wall
101st Airborne - Afghanistan

As a creature of habit...change can be hard. But I think I'm up to it.

Passing of GYR Founder

footnoteMaven announced on facebook that the Graveyard Rabbit founder, Terry Thornton, has passed away. His funeral is scheduled for Thursday in Amory, MS.

From the GYR site:
The Association Of Graveyard Rabbits was founded by Terry Thornton (Mississippi) with assistance from footnoteMaven (Washington) and Bob Franks (Mississippi). The Association Of Graveyard Rabbits is authored by Terry Thornton of The GYRabbit of The Hill Country.

Graveyard Rabbits

Eastside Cemetery

GYR Carnival - Scavenger Hunt

Wow - can you tell I had a hard time picking one for each category? I think this has been my favorite carnival thus far. Let's do it again in the future [maybe a few less to find]. We could also pick one item and see how many variations are found for it.

Mausoleum

S. P. Dinsmore Mausoleum - Garden of Eden, Ellsworth Co., KS
Mt. Calvary Cemetery - Saline Co., KS
Lakin Cemetery - Kearny Co., KS

Cross

Wilson Cemetery - Ellsworth Co., KS
St. Fidelis Cemetery - Ellis Co., KS

Angel

Walnut Hill Cemetery - Kingman Co., KS
Attica Cemetery - Harper Co., KS
Linwood Cemetery - Muscogee Co., GA

Bird

Iola Cemetery - Allen Co., KS
Gypsum Cemetery - Saline Co., KS

Four Legged Animal

Wilson Cemetery - Ellsworth Co., KS
Abilene Cemetery - Dickinson Co., KS
Lyons Cemetery - Rice Co., KS

Military Gravestone

Valley View Cemetery - Finney Co., KS
McPherson Cemetery - McPherson Co., KS

Photo

Utica Cemetery - Ness Co., KS
St. Fidelis Cemetery - Ellis Co., KS

Star

Bean Cemetery - Rice Co., KS
Baxter Springs Cemetery - Cherokee Co., KS

Obelisk

Linwood Cemetery - Muscogee Co., GA

Heart

Russell City Cemetery - Russell Co., KS
Zion COG Cemetery - McPherson Co., KS
St. Patrick's Cemetery - Dickinson Co., KS

Tree

Lebanon Cemetery - Kingman Co., KS
Iola Cemetery - Allen Co., KS
Stafford Cemetery - Stafford Co., KS

Hand

Gypsum Cemetery - Saline Co., KS
Ellsworth Cemetery - Ellsworth Co., KS
Russell City Cemetery - Russell Co., KS

Fraternal Symbol

Walnut Hill Cemetery - Kingman Co., KS
Abilene Cemetery - Dickinson Co., KS
Ellsworth Cemetery - Ellsworth Co., KS

Flower

Larned Cemetery - Pawnee Co., KS
Linwood Cemetery - Muscogee Co., GA
Eastside Cemetery - Reno Co., KS

Monument

Mother Bickerdyke Cemetery - Ellis Co., KS
St. Aloysius Cemetery - Crawford Co., KS

GYR Carnival

The interesting, odd & beautiful

In almost every cemetery we can find a tombstone that fits into the interesting, odd and beautiful categories. These are the ones we most likely share on our cemetery blogs.

Interesting

Mt. Calvary Cemetery - Saline County, KS

I have not located information on this grave.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Odd

Mitchal Runnels Grave

Valley View Cemetery - Finney County, KS

Read this online article from 1970

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Beautiful

Highland Cem. - Comanche Co., OK
Eakins Cem. - Denton Co., TX
Eastside Cem. - Reno Co, KS
Eastside Cem., Reno Co, KS

I am drawn to tombstones that tend to pull my heartstrings.

These are a few that fit the beautiful category.

Have they always been there?

Why am I just noticing all the "rabbits" in the cemetery? Not the real ones but those left behind by family. Did my joining the GYR make me more aware of rabbits? Why did each person choose a rabbit?

Never doubt the will of one wanting to take a cemetery walk. If you have ever visited my neck of the woods you know how much the wind blows here. The gusts were over 30 mph today. All day! That is how I wound up one county over!

Wanna Be GYR's

GYR Carnival - Cause of Death

Alexander & Valentine Goodall, along with Joshua Crowther, lost their lives in a fishing expedition. The men had taken a day off from work with others and chose a fishing spot northeast of town [Salina, KS] at the junctions of the Smoky Hill and Saline Rivers. Joshua Goodall volunteered to swim a net across the river and fasten to the bank on the other side. It was thought he developed a cramp and began flailing for help. Royal Calkin, George Garvin and Alexander Goodall tried to help. Alexander became entangled in the net and Valentine Goodall tried to save him. All three drowned on May 27, 1871.

- Valentine left a wife and five children.
- Alexander left a wife and newborn baby.
- Elizabeth Crowther was left with her seven children. James Muir, a member of the fishing party and one of the five town founders for Salina, sold the widow an acre of his land for one dollar to offer aid.

Located in the same cemetery is the grave of Henry H. Morrison. His headstone states he died from bullet wounds he received August 27, 1899 at the battle of the Rio Grand.

I think the cause of death most often listed on a tombstone is when a person died in military service. Those I have found that listed other causes left me thinking about the grief of the family. How they felt it necessary to tell those of us to visit in the future how this person died.

Click on my label "Cause of Death" to see the other posts I have on this topic.

Gypsum Hill Cemetery

GYR or Bunny?

You decide.

Murdock Cemetery

Fake GYR

I caught this fella trying to pass himself off as a graveyard rabbit.

President Cleveland's GYR Foot

"... a graveyard rabbit that was killed in the dark of the moon."

Tyrone [PA] Daily Herald
10/27/1887, Page 7

Did the graveyard rabbit foot bring President Cleveland luck?

He was our 22nd President [1885 - 1889], but did not win his re-election. He did, however, become our 24th President [1893 - 1897].

-------------------------------------

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/grovercleveland22

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grover_Cleveland

GYR

Eastside Cemetery Graveyard Rabbit.

He was running late and didn't have time to visit.