- Silas Ward Cemetery
This Silas Ward Cemetery is an original Hash cemetery located on New River at the mouth of Bridle Creek in Grayson County. “Old” John Hash is probably buried here; we know for sure, William Hash, Sr. is buried here. “Old” John died on this land in 1784 after settling here around 1765. His home was on the next ridge east of this cemetery.
Part 3–cemeteries
As you work toward finding more info about your missing links, you need to consider the information chiseled in stone in a cemetery. You know where near relatives are buried and may know where the not-so-near are also buried. At least, you may know the region of the country where they died and were buried.
Cemeteries play an important part of our history! They hold the final resting place for our relatives and friends. They represent a brief view of family relationships. Some are neat and well-kept– others have been totally neglected or completely lost. Markers range from nothing left but a sunken place in the ground, to a field stone, to an inscribed field stone, to a granite, machine-inscribed, headstone with decorations . Some have ceramic photos of the person, others have a violin carved with the name. Modern markers include bronze markers, military markers, or a simple funeral home marker.
An important feature you notice is the name. More than likely, this is the name the person was known by and might be a nickname. The full name is seldom inscribed. When husband and wife are buried together, the wife sometimes has the maiden name recorded as an initial instead of a middle name. Old markers may have inscriptions that are fading but even here you can gather information. Dates are either the full dates or only the year and usually include the birth and death. Some old markers include the death date only but give the age by years, months, and days. Births can be determined by counting back. In addition, some markers include father, sister, brother, sister in the inscription. This may be in the form of a foot marker. Foot markers indicate the location of that person and may have their initials only.
Older cemeteries were often located on the old home place, away from the home, and always on a knoll or high ground. These cemeteries may contain several members of the same family including in-laws. Often , while visiting one particular grave , you need to take notice of surrounding graves. Some small cemeteries contain only close family members. As cemeteries grew, these small family plots were closed and newer church and commercial cemeteries were established.
Now that you see that info, take a good photo of that marker along with a photo of the gate. You will look back at that photo many times to check facts.
Be aware that the information on the stone was given by a close relative and is usually correct. However, names, dates and inscriptions are sometimes not correct. The carver makes a mistake or the relative recorded the info wrong for the carver. Rarely is the inscription corrected on the stone. A good way to check on old markers is to ask for a family bible where these facts have been recorded by a parent or close family member [which have been corrected if wrong]. There are a lot of these bibles floating around!
Area and state libraries, local historical groups, internet sites, forum groups, court houses, and various other places may have the cemetery or name you are searching for. The easiest way to start searching is to simply “google” the name of the person or of the cemetery. Let it be know what you are looking for. Many others may already have the info for which you are searching.
One of the big pluses I have found —
I find an old cemetery, ask family to help clean it up, and give a quick history lesson about the cemetery. Sometimes, I get a quick history lesson from locals who remember burying loved ones in that cemetery. If you talk and ask about the cemetery, someone will step forward– they always do! Your family will not forget the occasion where they helped clean their g g grandparents’ graves. After all, we trust that someone will care for our burial ground.
Be sure to share the information you accumulate about the grave and cemetery.
I record graves and photos on http://www.findagrave.com/ . This is a free public site where all can view and add to the information placed with that cemetery and grave.
I include the headstone photo in the data base for that person [I use family Tree].
My website also contains much recorded information http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/h/a/s/Larry-A-Hash/ .
This is just one step of many that lends much information about the family or person you are researching.
Larry Hash's Blog Page 