Tombstone Photo of the Week

W. L. Cooper
Fairview Cemetery

Founder of St. John, Kansas

William Bickerton

1815-1905

Successor to Joseph Smith

.

He was born in Northumberland England and came to the United States when age 17. He was baptized in the church of Jesus Christ in 1845 and ordained an Evangelist by Sidney Rigdon. When this organization dissolved he was commanded by the Lord to continue the church in its purity and served as President. Moved upon by the Lord, he brought the first settlement to Stafford county, founded St. John, and was honored as its first citizen. Noble, visionary, generouse, forgiving all speak of him. He walked with God.

Based on the family tree I found at Ancestry.com I was able to find the following census listings:

.

1900 Stafford Co., KS, 85, widowed, born Jan 1815

1895 Stafford Co., KS [state], 80

1880 Stafford Co., KS, 63, divorced

1870 Allegheny Co., PA, 55, with spouse Charlotte, farm laborer, $12,000, $500

1860 Allegheny Co., PA, 44, with spouse Dorothy, Cole [coal?] boss, $600, $50

1850 Allegheny Co., PA, 30, with spouse Dortha, minor

.

There is also a NY Passenger listing for a William Bickerton born about 1815 that arrived in NY from England on June 30, 1831.

Willie

Willie G. Barngrover

Pleasant Valley Cemetery

Other information located at findagrave.com
died November 18, 1895
son of F. M. & L. S.
aged 13 years and 2 days

Tombstone Tuesday

.

I have seen many headstones with gates on them but this is the first like this.

.

Neola Cemetery

Is this the spirit ascending into Heaven?

W. B. Dunn - Died 7/4/1901

Response to The Kansas Rabbit

Diane, over at The Kansas Rabbit, blogged and linked to a newspaper article about visiting cemeteries as day trips. I have photographed 3 of those mentioned. I posted the Martin Cemetery on April 14th. You can find it using the label KS: Stafford Co., which includes a post on Lucy Porter's gravestone shaped as a pillow.

Another mentioned was the GAR memorial in the Stafford Cemetery [KS: Stafford Co]. Here is that memorial.

The other was the GAR monument in Hillside Cemetery [Edwards Co]. Ironically, I am working on a post for a confederate soldier buried at Hillside and will post it soon. Here is the monument mentioned in the article.
.

Martin Cemetery

This tiny cemetery sits on the North side of highway 50 in Stafford County. It's just west of the Highway 50 & 281 intersection.

There are only 2 headstones and 1 footstone

Added 7/9/2009. Diane at The Kansas Rabbit posted this newspaper article link that mentions this cemetery. It states ..."represents black homesteaders who settled in Ohio township in the late 1880s and 1890s".
.

Lucy Porter

Lucy Porter rests in the Stafford Cemetery in Stafford County, Kansas. I found this cemetery clean and well kept. There are many interesting headstones here. The cemetery also has a nice kiosk with a map and the interment list posted.