Over a year ago I began a bit of focused research on my 3rd-great-grandfather, George Ritchey. I still have a few bits of information to figure out, one being to finalize that his parents are Heinrich Ritchey and Catherine Strickler, and who are all his siblings, but for most everything else, I think I’ve been able to gather a lot of information about him.
One thing that surprised me was a photo that is listed on FamilySearch.org of him. I shall post it here – I have no idea if this is truly him, but it’s exciting to think this is what he looked like. I love photos so much!
George Ritchey was born 15 July 1810 in Providence, Bedford County, Pennsylvania. This date was eluded to in his obituary with the statement of “88 years, 4 months, and 4 days” (taken from the Everett Press). I believe this to be accurate because the 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 censuses all seem to back up his year of birth as well.
Who Are His Parents?
As previously mentioned, confirming that Heinrich “Henry” Ritchey and Catherine Strickler are his parents is something I have not yet proven. I believe I must have noted that they were his parents from the big tree on FamilySearch.org. Just about every tree on Ancestry.com notes the same parents, but I really don’t see them having any proof either. George’s obituary does not mention anything about his parents. It only mentioned his wife, children, and brothers.
I did try to do a search through Newspapers.com to see if there were any articles in reference to Henry Ritchey but did not get any hits. I have searched both FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com to see if I could find a will for Heinrich “Henry” Ritchey that could note his children, but came up short so far. I reached out to Bedford County for a Will from 1856 for a Henry Ritchey, hoping that maybe it was for mine, that it just took 7 years to get through everything, but it did not seem to be my Henry Ritchey.
My next plan is to begin with the (4) children of Heinrich and Catherine that I am aware of and work from there. FamilySearch.org has 9 children listed for them so I have a lot of work to do on this couple.
I, George, Take Thee, Anna
George Ritchey married the former Anna Cypher on 30 August 1838 in Bedford County, Pennsylvania. The reference of his marriage is one of my favorite parts of George’s lengthy obituary, I’ve placed a snippet from the Everett Press write-up below, but I’ll only transcribe a portion here. “On the 30 of August, 1838, at Cypher, Pennsylvania, he was united in marriage to Miss Anna Cypher, who as a most devoted and cheerful companion, filled his life with sunshine…”. Isn’t that just one of the most wonderful things anyone could have written about her? What a remarkable way to be remembered.
This snippet was taken from George Ritchey’s obituary from the Everett Press on Newspapers.com
Eleven Kids?
As the Everett Press snippet above states, George and Anna had 11 kids who all lived into adulthood.
Catherine Ritchey Bessor
Elizabeth Ritchey Grove
Rachel Ritchey Eshelman
Sarah Ritchey Smith
William Cypher Ritchey
Mary Ann Ritchey Morgart Hughes*
Daniel Edward Ritchey
Amanda Jane Ritchey McGraw
Alice Emma Ritchey Barton
George Grant Ritchey
David Theodore Ritchey
They were a blessed couple to have such a large family. Anna was aged 19-47 (only having been 47 for a week with David) when she had her children. Most were clockwork every 2-years except the last few which were closer to 3-4 years apart. I placed an asterisk next to Mary Ann Ritchey as she is who I descend from.
They raised this family in East Providence, Bedford County, Pennsylvania. The 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 Censuses all list them as dwelling in East Providence. I believe that both George and Anna lived in Bedford County their entire lives.
His Work & Interests
According to all (4) censuses, George was a farmer. When I did a quick search of the types of crops grown in Bedford County between 1850-1895, it appeared they could have grown a variety of staple crops including grains, potatoes, fruits and vegetables. Livestock was also bred in this area of the country which would provide both dairy and meat for this large family. I still need to look up tax records and maybe this will detail this information.
George belonged to the Knights of the Golden Eagle, which was a fraternal organization that began in 1873 whose rituals were based on those of the Crusaders. George was a member of the Everett Castle and had been installed as an officer the year he passed away. He was the W.C. or Worthy Chief, which was the presiding officer of the local chapter.
This article was taken from the Everett Press from 7 January 1898
He was known to host huge picnics on his property where people could fish in the nearby stream.
In another article from the newspaper, he lost his wallet, or in this case his “pocket book” which makes so much sense. I found it interesting the reward.
This article was found on Newspaper.com in the Bedford Inquirer on 12 April 1861
His Death
George passed away on 19 November 1898. His family provided an outstanding obituary that detailed his life (everything but his parents) and helped me quite a bit as I have attempted to research him.
This is the entire obituary found on Newspapers.com from the Everett Press
I’m having issues. I’m trying to find the will of my fourth-great-grandfather, Heinrich “Henry” Ritchey who died in Bedford County, Pennsylvania in 1849. The only trouble is I can’t seem to find his will. I’ve looked through the probate records and the only Henry Ritchey was a different Henry Ritchey who died in 1856 (I was hopeful when I requested his will that it was MY Henry Ritchey who just took a long time for his estate to be settled, but alas, it was a different Henry).
So I then began trying to find records in the Orphan’s Court – but I’ve been unsuccessful there as well, looking at the index of the records on FamilySearch and also being led from the FamilySearch Wiki to the Bedford County Historical Society’s index and they don’t have a Henry Ritchey listed either.
So where is Henry?
I’m sure you wonder why is it so important that I find the will of Henry Ritchey? Easy, I have no documentation that states who the parents of my third-great-grandfather, George Ritchey are. I’m rather hopeful that I will find a will and it will state who his children are. I could only be so lucky for him to name everyone (which I’ll admit if he died intestate I had better chances of finding everyone).
So I’m at a loss. My guess is to look in surrounding counties, despite his living in Hopewell, Bedford, Pennsylvania – I suppose he may not have died there after all. Getting down to the nitty-gritty of researching can be hard and frustrating – but sadly, in the end, I know it will be worth it.
A screenshot of my profile of Henry Ritchey and his wife, Catherine Strickler. The children listed are who I have pieced together so far – other sites have more listed – but for some reason I am more limited but still realize I have no true blue documentation of those I have.
I’ve searched Newspapers.com and NewspaperArchive.com (PA edition through my Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania subscription) with no luck. If I didn’t have a date of death I’d swear Henry is hanging with Andrew and Suzanna. (Insert laughing emoji here).
If you have any suggestions for me as I try to gather more pre-1850 information on my 3rd-great-grandfather, George Ritchey to tie him together with who I think is my 4th-great-grandfather, Henry Ritchey – by all means I am open to suggestions. I will continue to do the FAN Club and look up information on others who I believe are Henry’s children (the youngest child that I have for Henry and his wife Catherine was John Ritchey and he died in 1913 so there is a death certificate for him, and though it’s secondary information, Henry and Catherine are noted as his parents… so that’s something). Deep breaths and baby steps. I’ll get there.
So this morning I got up, ate my breakfast, and grabbed my computer so I could start sorting things out with my Ritchey family as I’ve decided they are going to be my focus of the “Discover Your Ancestors Workshop” I am beginning Tuesday. I’m excited, I did one in the fall where I attempted to find Suzanna Akers before 1850. Shocker, I was unsuccessful – but all in good time. So this time I’m focusing on a different part of my family, the Ritchey’s, who I do know something about, mostly my 2nd-great-grandmother, Mary Ann Ritchey, but haven’t really delved in to them much further.
The rabbit hole I found myself in was when I looked at Ancestry and had 1 death date for my 3rd-great-grandfather, George Ritchey, and I had another in my software. So I decided to go over to FamilySearch to see what it had to say, the tiebreaker if you will (insert your laugh or eye roll here).
But I didn’t even make it to George right away because of the “tasks” or I guess they are now called “Record Hints” on the front page that I saw FamilySearch had waiting there for me. Have you ever worked on these? I often will click on these people and help “clean them up”. Most of the time it’s just a “hint” that FamilySearch has found, a document that needs to be attached to the person as a source. This can be done in about 30 seconds (my direct line people I can do it this quickly, either it’s them or it’s not). Others I will stay away from, as they will be people whose names I don’t immediately recognize and I don’t want to screw anything up on the big tree. But then I fix one person and see their wife’s name and down the rabbit hole I go, only to realize I need to probably spend way more time than I want to because I’m finding duplicate people so I need to merge people and move things around and that’s a project for another day (which is probably why the big tree is as messed up as it is because people really do have intentions of going back in and then they never do). Now I’m feeling guilty.
You can see the Record Hints listed on the right hand side of the graphic, starting with Martha Anne Dickens, John Fairhurst, then William Davidson Mitchell
But see how easy it was to go down that rabbit hole?
For the record, it was my software that was correct, the year was wrong on my Ancestry tree and has now been corrected to 1898 (there was a newspaper article that supported the date of 19 November 1898 which coincides with Probate starting in 1899). However, when I went to FamilySearch I was excited to see someone had apparently posted a photo of George Ritchey on his profile that I hadn’t seen (see what happens when you get so tied up with one set of grandparents, you ignore the others and miss fascinating finds). I was so excited to see this!
Anyhow – I’m sure I’ll share the photo in the near future as I learn more about my Ritchey roots. I hope everyone has a nice weekend – it’s quite blustery here this weekend as a polar vortex is hitting the area. I hear that the Buffalo Bills are willing to pay fans to help shovel out their stadium (here in Ohio we aren’t getting as much snow as we are just getting cold). I don’t blame Buffalo, though, you work hard for a playoff game with home-field advantage, and you don’t want to lose it.
Some of the earliest, largest, and most complete types of genealogical records used in research are land documents. Along with showing legal proof of ownership, land records provide a plethora of information such as:
a person’s age
name of their spouse
their heir’s
their parent’s, relatives, and neighbors
location of where they previously lived
occupation
military services
if they were a naturalized citizen
if the land was acquired from the government
If land was acquired from the government, it is called a grant. This can be found on all levels of the government: federal, state, and county.
If land has been acquired from another person, it is a deed.
Deed Indexes
There are 2-different types of indexes to look up land records of your ancestors, direct and indirect.
A direct index has you searching by the grantor, or the seller of the land.
An indirect index has you searching by the grantee, or the buyer of the land.
Both indexes include the warranty, deed, quit claim, trust, description of the property, date of the sale, recordings and page number of the sale. An important tip is that surnames are often lumped together and are not found alphabetically. For example you may find a grouping of Smith’s on the S page in the beginning of the index with the name Saunders listed well after.
Below is a Direct Index from Potter County, Pennsylvania. Though you do not see any other “W” last names, you can see how the entire sheet is filled with Warner’s. Many of these are my relatives, with Winfield and Orienta Warner being my 3rd-Great-Grandparents.
This Direct Index for Potter County, Pennsylvania was downloaded from FamilySearch.org.
Where to Find
Land records can be found using the FamilySearch Wiki, Google, Ancestry, USGenWeb, and sometimes records can be found online through the county governments (I know this is the case for several counties in Pennsylvania). Just remember it is important to search for the documents where the land was at the time of the sale. If your tract of land was originally done in Bedford County, Pennsylvania in 1835, but today it is found in Blair County, Pennsylvania, you will need to look in Bedford County for the documents.
What to Find
You never know what other bit of information you may find within your land document:
Livestock brands
Apprentice papers
Liens
Adoptions
Value of the land
County Changes
Sale or Manumission of Slaves
Tax lists
Wills
Power of Attorney
Deed of gifts
Below is a lawful agreement of a land sale from David Ritchey to my 3rd-Great-Grandparents, George Ritchey and his wife, Anna (Annie) Cypher. I like how the paperwork includes a drawing of the land in question and the neighbors and relatives surrounding the area.
The digital copies above were provided to me by the Bedford County Courthouse, Bedford, Pennsylvania.
When you are looking at older records, reading the handwriting can be a challenge. Sometimes you may need to get a feel of the older handwriting and possibly do some analysis to figure out all that is being said. Sometimes you will get lucky and some of your documents may be from the same time period and you may get the same person doing more than one.
This was just a brief glimpse at what all goes into land documents. The types of measurements and such are all different wherever you go, from state to state and country to country. (States tend to be grouped with states that earned their statehood at the same time, for example, the 13 original colonies have similar measurement methods).
To discover if your ancestor received bounties from the government for military service you can go to the Bureau of Land Management’s General Land Office Records Automation Website (https://glorecords.blm.gov/default.aspx). Not only does it give you information on what the website provides but you can search for your ancestor’s land documents as well.
*Much of the above information were noted from the following resources: FamilySearch.org, the Bureau of Land Management, and Family Tree Magazine online.
From July 15-17 my husband and I traveled to Bedford County, Pennsylvania so I could research my family. It was such an honor to know I walked where they walked. It was a great trip that was full of adventure and I’ll be honest, spending one on one time with my husband was a nice treat.
As I recount my trip I just want to add that I suggested to my husband that maybe we should take my car as it would get better gas mileage. I’ll be honest with you, I have a 2013 Chrysler 200. I love my car (the first car I ever purchased was a 1993 Plymouth Sundance, and if my Sundance would have evolved, it would be in the realm of the Chrysler 200). Even my father thought we should take it for the same reason, better gas mileage. But believe me, my front-wheel-drive vehicle could never have conquered the hills of Cambria, Bedford, Huntingdon, Fulton and Somerset counties like my husband’s Ford F-150. As we headed from one cemetery to the next in Cambria county, we went up a hill so steep it was at a 15-degree incline (well, that hill we didn’t have to go up – hubby did it for fun). My car would never have survived either hill. I attempted to take a photo but my phone doesn’t do it justice.
You have to look all the way down and focus on the house to fully appreciate how steep the hill is. His hitch scraped against the street when we got to the bottom and leveled out.
We are at the bottom road about to drive up, the first hill (where there is pavement) was steep, but the upper portion (where it is grass) is the 15-degree incline. We actually needed to turn before the grass to get to the next cemetery.
First Stop: South Fork Cemetery
We left Ohio on Monday morning and traveled to Pennsylvania. It only took us about 3 hours and our first stop was South Fork Cemetery in South Fork, Cambria County. Here I found 2 out of 3 of my direct line relatives, and the grave of my Great-Aunt Vada. The person I couldn’t find was Susan Jane Foster Blair, my Great-Great-Grandmother. I was really bummed. I remember seeing her name as a teenager and you know how sometimes you have a relative that just pops out at you? That was Susan Jane Foster for me. We searched all around but were unable to locate her grave. South Fork was probably the largest cemetery we visited, but I am hoping to contact someone who could possibly have a map or layout of the cemetery, as it is one without an office, which explained the lack of information on the internet. (I’ll note here, none of the cemeteries we visited had an office).
The gravestone of my Great-Grandfather, Andrew Jackson Blair, who died when a mine he was working in collapsed and crushed his lungs. He was 45 years old.
The gravestone of his daughter, my Great-Aunt Vada Blair Reese. She died in Arizona in 1995, she was 87.
This is the headstone of my Great-Grandmother, Bertha Childers Blair Chappell. Her first husband was Andrew Jackson Blair (above) and her daughter was Vada. Bertha passed away in 1963 at the age of 77. To see an actual photo of her, look to my header, she is the one on the end of the couch not as happy as the others. Her son, Leroy, is on the far right, he is my Grandfather.
Second Stop: Mount Hope Cemetery
Our next stop had us taking the above hills to arrive at Mount Hope Cemetery. This was a much smaller cemetery, and luckily because of websites like Find A Grave someone had already uploaded a photo of my Great-Grandmother’s gravestone so I had some idea what to look for shape-wise.
Below is the headstone belonging to Margaret Wise Custer, though I knew her as Gammy. She is the only one of the relatives I searched for on this day that I had met. I have vague memories of her playing the “mouth organ” in a nursing home. She passed away in 1987 at the age of 96. My Grandma, her daughter, lived to be 94. Good genes.
My Great-Grandmother, Margaret Dora Wise. To see what she looked like look at the top border photo, she is the white-haired lady with the patterned dress laughing (her daughter is to the right).
Third Stop: Hopewell Cemetery
When we looked up Hopewell Cemetery on Google Maps attempting to get something of an address for this location, it looked rather flat. We could see it had sections but never dreamed the slant that the cemetery was created on. It was the next largest cemetery we visited. I didn’t find my Great-Great-Grandparents that were buried here. Since I had no cell service I wasn’t able to consult Find A Grave to see if either of them were listed. Turns out that my Great-Great-Grandfather, Philip Wise did have a photo on the website, but his wife, Barbara Waite Wise, did not.
Hopewell is filled with old graves that are very worn. We tried to look all over in the older section of the cemetery, thinking that is where they may be (Philip passed in 1878 while Barbara passed in 1881).
I did find my Great-Great-Aunt Elizabeth Childers Whitfield’s grave in my search and took a photo of it (she was my Great-Grandmother Bertha Childers older sister). I figured it made the stop somewhat worth it. But looking at the photo – look at how angled the ground is! This was another spot I’m not sure my car could have survived.
Stop Four: Duvall’s Cemetery
Duvall’s Cemetery was built on land that belonged to my 5th-Great-Grandfather, Basil Foster. So this one had a little extra charm for me, I was going to walk on land that I knew belonged to my ancestors. I’m a geek and think that’s thrilling. I think everyone else thinks I’m nuts in these situations (you should see me at Yorktown and Mount Vernon knowing I’ve walked where George may have stepped, it gives me goosebumps).
But Duvall’s Cemetery is also where many of my direct line relatives are buried. I actually found out 2 days after this visit it held one more grave, that of Andrew Jackson Blair, my Great-Great-Grandfather, father of the aforementioned Andrew Jackson Blair, and husband of the aforementioned Susan Jane Foster (yes, as in Basil Foster). I actually looked for Susan here but was unsuccessful.
Here are my relatives buried in Duvall Cemetery: Andrew Jackson Blair (1851), Charles Jackson Morgart (my Great-Grandfather, first husband of Margaret Wise, aka Maggie Custer), Basil Foster, Richard Lewis Foster, Charity Johnstone Foster, Thomas Foster, Eliza Horton Foster – just to name a few. These are my direct line ancestors as on my first trip, I’d have to spend all day in each cemetery to find everyone.
Richard Lewis Foster, my 4th-Great-Grandfather
Charity Johnstone Foster, my 4th-Great-Grandmother
Basil Foster, my 5th-Great-Grandfather
Charles Jackson Morgart, my Great-Grandfather. The only photo I have of him is the baby picture used above on my header border. He was born in 1873, so to have this christening photo is just incredible for me.
I was unable to find Thomas Foster, my 3rd-Great-Grandfather, or his wife, Eliza Horton Foster, my 3rd-Great-Grandmother. There were many worn graves and some that had fallen apart off the screws where the tops were face down into the grass. It was so sad to see so many graves this way. These were someone’s people, and my husband told me straight off that no, he could not lift them alone. He knows me so well.
Stop Five: Wells Valley Methodist Cemetery
As we were driving, on our way to what ended up being our sixth stop, I saw a road and it turned out we were near Wells Valley Methodist Cemetery, where a majority of my Fesler and Childers family members are buried. I was not able to find everyone, but I did find 2 of the 5 that I was looking for – the first being my 3rd-Great-Grandfather, George Henry Fesler who fought in several smaller battles during the Civil War and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Oakman Fesler. My Great-Great-Grandmother, Sarah Jane Fesler Childers is reportedly buried there as well, but I was unable to find her. The area where the Fesler’s is an older portion of the cemetery in the back corner under a huge tree. Where George’s has been maintained – his wife and children’s are very worn.
George Henry Fesler, he was born in 1824 and passed away in 1911.
Mary Elizabeth Oakman was born in 1826 and passed away in 1872. Her gravestone has “Mother” on the top which is still visible though the rest of the marker is bare.
Others we were unable to find were my 3rd-Great-Grandparents, Abraham Childers and his wife, Mary Ann Green. This was another spot where Find A Grave would have been helpful as it has one of theirs listed, but again, no service (I’ll know to save the photos ahead of time for future visits).
Stop Six: Mount Zion Lutheran Church Cemetery (aka Rays Hill Cemetery)
When we pulled alongside the road to Mount Zion Lutheran Church and Cemetery, the parking lot was blocked off with metal gates. As we sat in the car we saw huge gravestones saying “Ritchey” which was one of the names I was looking for. We searched for a while and then it hit me – I’d seen the headstones on Find a Grave and began looking for white. Here, if we had just started in the front (translated, not far from where we parked) my Great-Great-Grandparents were in the front row, and my 3rd Great-Grandparents were in the row directly behind them.
Anna Cypher Ritchey was my 3rd-Great-Grandmother on my dad’s maternal side. She was born in 1820 and passed in 1889.
George Ritchey, husband of Anna Cypher, he is my 3rd-Great-Grandfather, born in 1810 and died in 1898.
Mary Ann Ritchey Morgart Hughes was born in 1851 and passed away in 1908. My Great-Great-Grandmother.
George Washington Morgart, my Great-Great-Grandfather. He was born in 1849 and passed away unexpectedly in 1895.
Stop Seven: It’s Not a Cemetery, it’s a Tavern
So as we drove along the Lincoln Highway I hoped we would drive by the Morgart Tavern, which was started by my 5th-Great-Grandfather, Peter Morgart, and then run by my 4th-Great-Grandfather, Baltzer Morgart. The building was constructed in the 1760’s and the walls are to be 2-feet deep. I was so excited when we found it. We knocked on the door before taking photos but no one was home. It’s when you find the places and even buildings where they lived that tickles me the most, a feeling of they were here.
Stop Eight: Providence Union Church Cemetery
This was our favorite cemetery, primarily because when we arrived we parked the truck, opened the door and there was my 5th-Great-Grandfather’s resting place front and center. He and his wife were our easiest finds of the day. We probably spent 5 minutes here. Captain Solomon Sparks fought in both the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. His daughter, Mary Sparks, was married to the before-mentioned Baltzer Morgart.
Captain Solomon Sparks, my 5th-Great-Grandfather, born in 1760 and passed in 1838.
Rachel Weimer Sparks, my 5th-Great-Grandmother, born 1764 and died in 1842.
Stop Nine: The Morgart/Morgret Family Cemetery
This was a fun one as it’s literally in the middle of someone’s backyard. I don’t think the family is a Morgart, I would like to think they would have asked more questions about my being related to them (or not, being an uber-introvert my husband knocked on the door and asked if it was okay to go look at the cemetery, they were very nice and told us we could even pull up in the driveway next to the pole barn. I also want to add that seeing as it was mowed to the same height as the rest of the yard, this family took excellent care of the cemetery, you could easily read things, the gravestones we were weed-whacked, just really impressed).
So here I had many relatives buried, my 5th-Great-Grandfather, Peter Morgart, and his wife, Christiana Hess (my 5th-Great-Grandmother), my 4th-Great-Grandfather, Baltzer Morgart and his wife (and my 4th-Great-Grandmother), Mary Sparks, and lastly my 3rd-Great-Grandparents, Andrew Jackson Morgart and his wife, Rebecca O’Neal.
Grave of Peter Morgart, my 5-Great Grandfather who fought in the Battle of Yorktown in the Revolutionary War and watched as Cornwallis surrendered to General George Washington (or so the lore goes, gives me goosebumps as everyone knows George is my hero!). He was born in 1758 and died in 1846.
Headstone of my 5th-Great-Grandmother Christiana Hess Morgart. She was born in 1761 and died in 1839.
Gravestone of Baltzer Morgart, my 4th-Great-Grandfather who ran the Morgart Tavern. He was born in 1785 and died in 1853.
Gravestone of Mary Sparks, my 4th-Great-Grandmother born 1798 and died in 1874. She was the daughter of Captain Solomon Sparks.
The headstone of Andrew Jackson Morgart who was my 3rd-Great-Grandfather. He was a farmer who was born in 1824 and died in 1870.
The grave of Rebecca O’Neal Morgart, wife of Andrew Jackson Morgart who was born in 1824 and passed away in 1898. She was my 3rd-Great-Grandmother.
Last Stop: Dudley Methodist Cemetery
Our last stop was to find my Great-Great-Grandparents, Jonas and Anna Maria Leighty Wise. I was so excited to find them as 2 days later I was able to take a photo of a picture that my second cousin Hope had of them that was left after a Wise Family Reunion back in the 1990s. My Grandma Blair (her married last name) also talked so fondly of her “Granny Wise” that finding their graves had a lot of importance. But my husband and I must have looked at every single tombstone in the cemetery and we were unable to find them. I was so disappointed. I had no cell service so I was unable to look them up (it would have done me no good, there are no photos on Find A Grave). They were the parents of my Great-Grandmother, Margaret Wise.
Since returning home I did email the Dudley United Methodist Church on a hope they had a layout of the cemetery but I’ve not heard back from them. I could kick myself as it didn’t occur to me when I was there, but my husband found 9 graves of Wise’s but I didn’t recognize the names. Only later did it register that my Great-Great-Grandmother had a total of 15 children, but only 5 survived. Nine graves he found – I wonder if they are 9 of the 10 she lost.
Wrapping It Up
Since this post is ever-so-long I’ll stop here and do another post for the next 2 days. Cemetery hopping is fun. It gave me an opportunity to be near my ancestors. Without them, I wouldn’t be here. It’s just so fascinating to learn their names and to do my best to learn about them and who they were. Just trying my best for them not to be forgotten.
Helping History Come Alive 