Quoting Joe Mackey to Nancy Backus on 08-23-19 06:11 <=-
There is now no idea who is buried where there. :(
Too bad there hadn't been a census taken of the graveyard previously,
and kept at some local history library.... at least the knowledge would
have been preserved to some extent...
It was just an oral history. SFIK. If anything were recorded its
been lost with the family dying off/ moving, papers tossed, etc.
Sigh. As a genealogist of sorts, I feel the pain of that loss...
The funeral home, probably.... but the local family and town cemetaries
were happening long before that... I've seen stones with dates in the
1600s and 1700s.... If you are talking about the large city cemeteries,
then that could be true, though....
At one time most burials were around the village church. But over
time that property became full.
I have read how over years old graves were opened, the skeletons
removed and new occupant placed there. Over time where the bones were moved to is forgotten.
The ones who usually stayed in place were notable people, not the
common ordinary riff raff.
That was more common in England and Europe, where land was much more at
a premium.... And often the notable people were buried inside the church
or cathedral... :)
Large city cemetery's, like today, are mostly from the Victorian era
when the dead were better respected and the modern funeral home, etc began.
True. We have a lovely example of a Victorian cemetery here in
Rochester, Mt Hope Cemetary, which I think you drove by at least the
corner of when you came to visit Jim and me at lunch... :)
And may also have followed from the vigils, sitting with the person as
the life ebbed away...
Very true.
I sat vigil with my mom her last night... we had her on hospice at home,
so it was much more like the older times... When it was clear that she
was slipping away finally, I called the family in, and we sang hymns to
send her on her way.... my sister sat at her head, with a hand on her
pulse, so we knew when she left... It was all peaceful and joyful...
ttyl neb
... When there is room in the heart there is room in the house.
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