Gr-gr-grandfather's resting place finally found.

[JohnW in E.TN]

scan pic 007 (Small).jpg


Most won't care about this, but some may be interested in this sort of thing:

For many years in my family, the location of my gr-gr-grandfather's gravesite was unknown. It was told by my grandfather (his grandson) that he had wanted to be buried on top of the mountain, facing the East, so that he could look down in the valley and view the great resurrection morning. Unfortunately, no one really took any interest in finding his gravesite until after my grandad had passed away, taking with him the only knowledge of the location. This past Fall, after a lot of searching and scouring the mountains in that section of Virginia, he was found. He indeed was buried on top of a mountain, in a very lonely spot. You can see most of the county from up there. The headstone is very interesting, and I'm told is an early style of UDC headstone. No birth or death, just the dates of the War. We've seen several like that in the county.

Incidentally, he survived the War, but died during the great worldwide Flu epidemic of 1918-1919.


Regards,

John W.

[johan_steele]

Larry, congrats. A bit more of history, both that of your family and of the nation, has been found.

As long as we remember where those stones sit and honor them they will not be forgotten.

[sockknitter]

Yes, congratulations. I think i understand the excitement of finding his grave and marker. I found the 1864 marker for one of my great great grandfathers a few years ago. He was a Southern sympathizer and died at age 94.

It's true that some people really aren't interested in their own ancestry and i can KIND of understand why: the people are dead and supposedly have no influence on the living. On the other hand, though we never met people who died in the 19th century, i believe they have some input to the way we were raised...culture is passed down!

I hope that with the spread of digitized databases, your family information will be preserved and available to all future generations, most importantly to your family tree branches. Thank you for this story and the picture.

[cw1865]

Actually I think its very interesting and I am glad that you were able to locate the headstone. I was wondering if it MIGHT be appropriate to put actual birth and death years on the headstone? If I were to see the gravestone, I might misconstrue it as the marker of a four year old child and wonder why the 'CSA' was on top (child of a Confederate soldier?)

[Paul L. Hulse]

John: Congratualations on finding your G-G Grandfather's grave. I find cemeteries very interesting and they hold a wealth of historic information if one know's where to search. My G-G Grandfather was missing for nearly 90 years until I did some research and found his final resting place. But here the mystery deepens. He has a nice marker as does his wife, but no one in the family know's who put it there; it is not the type of stone that Veteran's get.
Paul

[larry_cockerham]

Originally Posted by johan_steele

Larry, congrats. A bit more of history, both that of your family and of the nation, has been found.

As long as we remember where those stones sit and honor them they will not be forgotten.

Hey, I'll take any congrats I can get! I'll add my own to John W. who I'm sure was the targeted recepient. I can perhaps imagine his thrill at this discovery, having finally been led to my unmarked ancestor's grave a couple of years ago by some cousins.

John W., have you thought about "updating" by adding a newer VA stone with more data? I certainly wouldn't disturb that one, just make an addition.

[gary]

Can you tell us anything of his story?

[sarah1864]

I envy you that you found your ancestor's burial. I have been looking for mine for almost 15 years. He is not buried where family history says. I have a feeling he is an "unknown", or known only to God.