Boy it was hot yesterday! I didn't get to RC until 2:45 and worked my asbestos off until 8 pm but the mapping data collection is DONE. Now I can put the information all together and create maps of the site (after I've done a bunch of other stuff that is) which was a significant part of my practicum. I was able to identify another monument base last night so that leaves a few of the marble bases yet to mate with their headstones-- the headstones should have been easy but it really hasn't been that simple and that bugs me so I'll probably go back and measure again.
I had a visitor to the work site last night, had a good chat, and it gave me a chance to see what it really is that I want to share with people about the site-- so it was good practice for the upcoming guided tour. Now that I have the majority of the monuments figured out, and other features that I want to show people, I can start laying out a route-- some things have to come first so other stuff makes sense.
Just a reminder for those planning to come on the guided tour-- things are still a bit rough in there so sturdy shoes and long pants are recommended.
Friday 29 June 2012
Wednesday 27 June 2012
Primary documents or why I'm going gray these days...
Let me admit I had more than a few gray hairs when I started all this but I do believe that the spread of the gray is accelerating and I'm choosing to blame a lack of clarity in records.
If you have seen the list of interred you will have read the disclaimer up top that points out that the records at times leave a LOT to be desired. I've been trying to sort out when exactly the Reilly Cemetery went out of use and the Rupert Union became the predominant graveyard for the area. I have not found direct references to anyone specifically being buried at Rupert Union before 1911 (Methodist records) or 1916 (Presbyterian records). But there are a whole bunch of headstones at RUC that predate 1911 and 1916 and too many of them I think to have been moved like the Shouldice and Shannon ones we know were moved.
The written word is intended as a permanent record for those that come after us and want to know who, what, where, when, why and how. Now I have mentioned, have I not, that the early ministers, especially the Methodist ministers, weren't big on keeping records or perhaps weren't quite so literate themselves-- the handwriting at times seems to be of hands unaccustomed to the pen so maybe the leaving out of details is a lack of literacy. Maybe the records are just plain lost, or maybe they intended to but never got around to making those wonderful records we student types hold so dear. In later years this does not really hold water. The Presbyterian ministers were university educated and tended to leave really good records of who someone was , who they were married to, maiden names of wives and mothers, dates and place of interment. If these guys can differentiate between Halls, Stevenson, Pritchard, Brooks, Copeland, Chelsea, MacLaren, Wakefield. Lascelles, Thompson, Cantley, Johnston, or Moncrieff cemeteries (there are others as well), and take the time to mention anything out of the ordinary like death by disease or carting accident, someone being buried at his farm or beside a house then surely they can differentiate between the Public Cemetery at Masham (Reilly Cemetery) and the Union Cemetery at Masham (Rupert Union Cemetery). It is only in the earliest of the Presbyterian records that a place of burial is not specified. My notes show that the Methodist ministers were far more relaxed about such details, some being better records keepers than others, but there are a lot of Methodist burials that do not list a burial place.
I went down a rabbit hole today trying to figure out just when Rupert Union Cemetery went live, as it were. Local lore has the land donated around 1900, though I haven't checked the actual records as yet (but I will in time). That doesn't mean that burials at Reilly Cemetery stopped right away-- there would have been husbands and wives who wanted to be buried with their spouses, mothers and fathers who wanted to be near their children, and children who wanted to be buried near their parents. I suspect that there was an overlap of a number of years. There may well have been a requirement to have work done at the RUC site before it went into use, again it is said that the Johnston farmstead had to be cleared away first (Geggie I think, can't remember which book), and given that the RUC is very much a planned cemetery, I suspect time was spent having it laid out before burials began. When thinking of the above keep in mind that oral tradition has its faults, as memory is a funny thing and in the retelling almost all stories change just a little. Oh how I wish I could lay my hands on the early records for RUC!!
So back to my gray hairs... I was transcribing some more records, well into the 1900s and still getting people listed as buried at Masham/public cemetery at Masham and not at the Union Cemetery. So I started checking the headstones to see how many people recorded as being buried after 1899 have headstones at RUC. This got frustrating pretty quickly as the records and the headstones don't match. I have a hard time believing that an educated, long serving local minister (Robert Gamble, Presbyterian minister) who has managed in all of his burials to specify which graveyard, would be unaware of the difference between the two cemeteries. I have a hard time believing that the two witnesses on each and every record would fail to know the difference. Yes they were both public cemeteries but they lie some distance apart, they look different and they had different names long before Mr Gamble retired. Similarly the Methodist minister, Mark Styan I believe, in 1911 specifies, for the first time in the records I have found to date, a burial at the Union Cemetery in Masham. I also have a burial in Rupert in 1900 with no mention of Union, so is this indicative that Masham is becoming Rupert or is it the first burial at the new cemetery? Is Rupert the new town only and did Masham keep its identity as a separate place in those early 1900s?
What do the headstones at RUC dating from the early 1900s have in common? They are made of granite by and large, only one or two are of marble. Granite, as I mentioned in an earlier post, was available from the 1850s on, but it was hard to work, expensive and very very heavy so it didn't really catch on until the 20th. (Just a note, marble does not necessarily mean old.) As I also mentioned, monuments were often erected long after the deceased was buried. Is it possible that these 2 Methodist burials that specify interment at Masham Cemetery are a case where the family assumed because of the date of death and oral tradition that their kin was at RUC? These two are both female Johnstons who married Reillys. The RUC is on former Johnston land. Reilly Cemetery was once Johnston land too and was Reilly land for 100 years. You pick, I can't make up my mind. Maybe the place of memorial and the place of interment are not one and the same.
Now back to finding the dead...I was trying to find evidence of the interred that yesterday's lazy cleric could not be bothered to give. So I found 2 Gibson headstones form 1909, a Kennedy headstone, again 1909, and headstones for 4 people for whom I have no records. I went through all the pictures online (BLESS whomever posted them, thank you!) and as is no surprise really, there are a lot of people with no headstones at all. It's a bit surprising that such late burials have no records though (1897,1896, 1899, 1906). Were these erected at a later date as well? Are they at RUC or RC?
So where does this leave me? I think I'm going bald near my part from all the head scratching. If I follow my own rules I have to give preeminence to the records made at the time. This would tend to indicate that Mr Gamble never buried anyone at RUC (it's his successor who lists the first Presbyterian burial at RUC in 1916) and that there are a lot more people buried at Reilly Cemetery than we thought. Then again this would bring the ratio of monuments to interred into line with other cemeteries in the Gatineaus (Martin 2004). As for those without records, or with inadequate records, we will probably never know for sure. For those pre 1900 they are likely at RC, for those post 1900 who knows.
If you have seen the list of interred you will have read the disclaimer up top that points out that the records at times leave a LOT to be desired. I've been trying to sort out when exactly the Reilly Cemetery went out of use and the Rupert Union became the predominant graveyard for the area. I have not found direct references to anyone specifically being buried at Rupert Union before 1911 (Methodist records) or 1916 (Presbyterian records). But there are a whole bunch of headstones at RUC that predate 1911 and 1916 and too many of them I think to have been moved like the Shouldice and Shannon ones we know were moved.
The written word is intended as a permanent record for those that come after us and want to know who, what, where, when, why and how. Now I have mentioned, have I not, that the early ministers, especially the Methodist ministers, weren't big on keeping records or perhaps weren't quite so literate themselves-- the handwriting at times seems to be of hands unaccustomed to the pen so maybe the leaving out of details is a lack of literacy. Maybe the records are just plain lost, or maybe they intended to but never got around to making those wonderful records we student types hold so dear. In later years this does not really hold water. The Presbyterian ministers were university educated and tended to leave really good records of who someone was , who they were married to, maiden names of wives and mothers, dates and place of interment. If these guys can differentiate between Halls, Stevenson, Pritchard, Brooks, Copeland, Chelsea, MacLaren, Wakefield. Lascelles, Thompson, Cantley, Johnston, or Moncrieff cemeteries (there are others as well), and take the time to mention anything out of the ordinary like death by disease or carting accident, someone being buried at his farm or beside a house then surely they can differentiate between the Public Cemetery at Masham (Reilly Cemetery) and the Union Cemetery at Masham (Rupert Union Cemetery). It is only in the earliest of the Presbyterian records that a place of burial is not specified. My notes show that the Methodist ministers were far more relaxed about such details, some being better records keepers than others, but there are a lot of Methodist burials that do not list a burial place.
I went down a rabbit hole today trying to figure out just when Rupert Union Cemetery went live, as it were. Local lore has the land donated around 1900, though I haven't checked the actual records as yet (but I will in time). That doesn't mean that burials at Reilly Cemetery stopped right away-- there would have been husbands and wives who wanted to be buried with their spouses, mothers and fathers who wanted to be near their children, and children who wanted to be buried near their parents. I suspect that there was an overlap of a number of years. There may well have been a requirement to have work done at the RUC site before it went into use, again it is said that the Johnston farmstead had to be cleared away first (Geggie I think, can't remember which book), and given that the RUC is very much a planned cemetery, I suspect time was spent having it laid out before burials began. When thinking of the above keep in mind that oral tradition has its faults, as memory is a funny thing and in the retelling almost all stories change just a little. Oh how I wish I could lay my hands on the early records for RUC!!
So back to my gray hairs... I was transcribing some more records, well into the 1900s and still getting people listed as buried at Masham/public cemetery at Masham and not at the Union Cemetery. So I started checking the headstones to see how many people recorded as being buried after 1899 have headstones at RUC. This got frustrating pretty quickly as the records and the headstones don't match. I have a hard time believing that an educated, long serving local minister (Robert Gamble, Presbyterian minister) who has managed in all of his burials to specify which graveyard, would be unaware of the difference between the two cemeteries. I have a hard time believing that the two witnesses on each and every record would fail to know the difference. Yes they were both public cemeteries but they lie some distance apart, they look different and they had different names long before Mr Gamble retired. Similarly the Methodist minister, Mark Styan I believe, in 1911 specifies, for the first time in the records I have found to date, a burial at the Union Cemetery in Masham. I also have a burial in Rupert in 1900 with no mention of Union, so is this indicative that Masham is becoming Rupert or is it the first burial at the new cemetery? Is Rupert the new town only and did Masham keep its identity as a separate place in those early 1900s?
What do the headstones at RUC dating from the early 1900s have in common? They are made of granite by and large, only one or two are of marble. Granite, as I mentioned in an earlier post, was available from the 1850s on, but it was hard to work, expensive and very very heavy so it didn't really catch on until the 20th. (Just a note, marble does not necessarily mean old.) As I also mentioned, monuments were often erected long after the deceased was buried. Is it possible that these 2 Methodist burials that specify interment at Masham Cemetery are a case where the family assumed because of the date of death and oral tradition that their kin was at RUC? These two are both female Johnstons who married Reillys. The RUC is on former Johnston land. Reilly Cemetery was once Johnston land too and was Reilly land for 100 years. You pick, I can't make up my mind. Maybe the place of memorial and the place of interment are not one and the same.
Now back to finding the dead...I was trying to find evidence of the interred that yesterday's lazy cleric could not be bothered to give. So I found 2 Gibson headstones form 1909, a Kennedy headstone, again 1909, and headstones for 4 people for whom I have no records. I went through all the pictures online (BLESS whomever posted them, thank you!) and as is no surprise really, there are a lot of people with no headstones at all. It's a bit surprising that such late burials have no records though (1897,1896, 1899, 1906). Were these erected at a later date as well? Are they at RUC or RC?
So where does this leave me? I think I'm going bald near my part from all the head scratching. If I follow my own rules I have to give preeminence to the records made at the time. This would tend to indicate that Mr Gamble never buried anyone at RUC (it's his successor who lists the first Presbyterian burial at RUC in 1916) and that there are a lot more people buried at Reilly Cemetery than we thought. Then again this would bring the ratio of monuments to interred into line with other cemeteries in the Gatineaus (Martin 2004). As for those without records, or with inadequate records, we will probably never know for sure. For those pre 1900 they are likely at RC, for those post 1900 who knows.
Monday 25 June 2012
Is it blasphemous to want to choke a preacher?
Today I am housebound due to an injury sustained doing laundry...but that is another story and not part of the blog save that I am today stuck in my desk chair because of it. Sigh. Being housebound has its advantages, including the time to get back to those pesky church records and it was several hours of working with my transcripts that have led me to the point of wanting to choke a dead man.
As I've said before I'm trying to get a handle on roughly how many people are buried at Reilly Cemetery. I've been looking for a clear(ish) date on when the Rupert Union Cemetery came into regular use, and thus Reilly Cemetery went OUT of regular use. This date has been somewhat elusive as the early records for the Rupert Union Cemetery do not appear to be readily at hand. In order to get at the information from another direction I have turned back to my negatives of old church records and lo and behold we have a kind, wonderful minister who having been in residence for a few years records the first burial at "Union Cemetery at Masham" of one of his parishioners in 1911 (edit June 26-- this sentence is unitentionally misleading. the record does not say it is the first burial at RUC, it is the first time I came across a reference to RUC, my apologies for the error). Thank you Mark Styan, Methodist Minister of long ago, for making a clear distinction between the two cemeteries in side by side entries made only a few months apart.
Back to my Pastoricidal tendencies...While plowing through the many post 1900 records I came across a whole bunch of records, sequentially listed no less, with no place of residence given and no place of burial. Women are Mrs This or Mrs That, with no maiden name given or the husband's first name omitted. It appears that a certain man of God by the name of Henry A. Young (Methodist minister 1905-1906) was not fond of adding such superfluous details. It is he I would cheerfully choke were he around to be thus done in. There are 12 entries with no useful details in that two year period. Now I can take a guess of course that names like Reilly, McCorkell, Chilcott, Shouldice, Kennedy, Usher or Wood are buried at Reilly Cemetery because these families are often buried there. But what about the Pritchards? Are they at the Pritchard Cemetery or had that closed by then? Alas, guessing is not good enough so I'm putting the lot under the "likely but not guaranteed to be buried at Reilly Cemetery" category.
I think it IS safe to say that burials did not stop at Reilly Cemetery at the stroke of midnight December 31, 1899. I need to prowl around RUC a bit, keeping in mind that headstones get moved, and maybe have a wee look at the Pritchard Cemetery as well if I can find out who to ask for permission. Knowing that headstones have been removed from the Reilly Cemetery in the past, and that headstones/monuments are often made well after the demise of the interred, I will have to give the written record the final word. What this means to little ole me is a great huge pile o' transcriptions yet to be done as I had stopped at 1899... there are about 140 entries in the Presbyterian records that come after that...I don't see this being done before the guided tour but I will do what I can.
As I've said before I'm trying to get a handle on roughly how many people are buried at Reilly Cemetery. I've been looking for a clear(ish) date on when the Rupert Union Cemetery came into regular use, and thus Reilly Cemetery went OUT of regular use. This date has been somewhat elusive as the early records for the Rupert Union Cemetery do not appear to be readily at hand. In order to get at the information from another direction I have turned back to my negatives of old church records and lo and behold we have a kind, wonderful minister who having been in residence for a few years records the first burial at "Union Cemetery at Masham" of one of his parishioners in 1911 (edit June 26-- this sentence is unitentionally misleading. the record does not say it is the first burial at RUC, it is the first time I came across a reference to RUC, my apologies for the error). Thank you Mark Styan, Methodist Minister of long ago, for making a clear distinction between the two cemeteries in side by side entries made only a few months apart.
Back to my Pastoricidal tendencies...While plowing through the many post 1900 records I came across a whole bunch of records, sequentially listed no less, with no place of residence given and no place of burial. Women are Mrs This or Mrs That, with no maiden name given or the husband's first name omitted. It appears that a certain man of God by the name of Henry A. Young (Methodist minister 1905-1906) was not fond of adding such superfluous details. It is he I would cheerfully choke were he around to be thus done in. There are 12 entries with no useful details in that two year period. Now I can take a guess of course that names like Reilly, McCorkell, Chilcott, Shouldice, Kennedy, Usher or Wood are buried at Reilly Cemetery because these families are often buried there. But what about the Pritchards? Are they at the Pritchard Cemetery or had that closed by then? Alas, guessing is not good enough so I'm putting the lot under the "likely but not guaranteed to be buried at Reilly Cemetery" category.
I think it IS safe to say that burials did not stop at Reilly Cemetery at the stroke of midnight December 31, 1899. I need to prowl around RUC a bit, keeping in mind that headstones get moved, and maybe have a wee look at the Pritchard Cemetery as well if I can find out who to ask for permission. Knowing that headstones have been removed from the Reilly Cemetery in the past, and that headstones/monuments are often made well after the demise of the interred, I will have to give the written record the final word. What this means to little ole me is a great huge pile o' transcriptions yet to be done as I had stopped at 1899... there are about 140 entries in the Presbyterian records that come after that...I don't see this being done before the guided tour but I will do what I can.
Monday 18 June 2012
Standing stones
It was another lovely day at Reilly Cemetery-- not too darned hot (at least not for long), the bugs were flying backwards in the breeze and me and my trusty sidekick got lots done. We finished mapping the north east quadrant (by far the largest), pulled all the stakes and then ran the grid in the north west quadrant (by far the smallest). No new monuments today, sigh, and I have not yet been able to match the base I found the other day with its headstone-- too many possibilities, but I will see what I can do to narrow down the field.
I've been finding a lot of what I have come to call 'standing stones'. These are small to medium sized stones that appear to have been deliberately erected pointy end up. This reminds me of a part of Simon Schama's A History of Britain (I might be wrong but I'm pretty sure it was that series) where he talks about the potato famine. People were dying everywhere and the priests couldn't keep up, but it seems to me that there was also a price for burying the dead in holy ground. In the grinding poverty and horror of the famine some men buried their children in a patch of ground by the sea and erected stones, like the ones I have found at Reilly Cemetery, as the only marker for these poor little ones. It is not said, but it may have happened in other areas of Ireland as well. Many of the husbands and fathers who buried dead family members at Reilly Cemetery may have remembered, or seen, or done this themselves back in Ireland and they may have brought the tradition to Canada with them. I can't prove it but the stones I'm finding didn't end up that way on their own and the pastures around the cemetery don't have them, at least not that I have found so far. There are also sections of Reilly Cemetery where the ground is comparatively flat with no stones at all, and it does make you wonder if someone "cleaned" them up, thereby removing the only marker of these graves.
There seems to be a fair bit of interest in having the guided tour of the cemetery, if you are interested you can contact me at the email address for this blog. Long pants and good shoes are recommended as there are still some brambles and the ground is uneven in places.
I've been finding a lot of what I have come to call 'standing stones'. These are small to medium sized stones that appear to have been deliberately erected pointy end up. This reminds me of a part of Simon Schama's A History of Britain (I might be wrong but I'm pretty sure it was that series) where he talks about the potato famine. People were dying everywhere and the priests couldn't keep up, but it seems to me that there was also a price for burying the dead in holy ground. In the grinding poverty and horror of the famine some men buried their children in a patch of ground by the sea and erected stones, like the ones I have found at Reilly Cemetery, as the only marker for these poor little ones. It is not said, but it may have happened in other areas of Ireland as well. Many of the husbands and fathers who buried dead family members at Reilly Cemetery may have remembered, or seen, or done this themselves back in Ireland and they may have brought the tradition to Canada with them. I can't prove it but the stones I'm finding didn't end up that way on their own and the pastures around the cemetery don't have them, at least not that I have found so far. There are also sections of Reilly Cemetery where the ground is comparatively flat with no stones at all, and it does make you wonder if someone "cleaned" them up, thereby removing the only marker of these graves.
There seems to be a fair bit of interest in having the guided tour of the cemetery, if you are interested you can contact me at the email address for this blog. Long pants and good shoes are recommended as there are still some brambles and the ground is uneven in places.
Wednesday 13 June 2012
There once was a woman with a stick...
and with it she would like to prick
all over the ground
then shout "LOOK WHAT I FOUND"
and NO, it's not JUST a red brick!
You know who you are...chuckle...thanks for the help!
Another great day...the weather was perfect (clear, not too hot, a bit breezy so my notes are only barely legible). Got tons done, matched three more monuments with bases WITH the help of a photo sent in by a reader, thank you so much JT. THEN I got lucky and actually found a monument base that no one had beat me to. Now this sounds like no big deal but the cemetery is only one acre (ish) and there have been a lot of volunteers working on the site and I'm the pedantically fastidiously methodical type who likes to do one square at a time (plod plod plod insert tortoise picture here plod plod plod) and it finally PAID OFF!! oh yes, being slow and careful may not get you the easy wins, but it does help you find the hidden gems. I will have to check measurements carefully next visit in order to identify the grave.
I'm thinking about doing a guided tour (from a heritage and archaeology point of view) of the site when I'm done so if anyone is interested do send me an email, I will try to pick a date that is not on a long weekend..
Tired, dirty, happy...and seeing the end in sight and not totally happy that it's almost done...this has been a LOT of fun and I don't want it to end just yet...
all over the ground
then shout "LOOK WHAT I FOUND"
and NO, it's not JUST a red brick!
You know who you are...chuckle...thanks for the help!
Another great day...the weather was perfect (clear, not too hot, a bit breezy so my notes are only barely legible). Got tons done, matched three more monuments with bases WITH the help of a photo sent in by a reader, thank you so much JT. THEN I got lucky and actually found a monument base that no one had beat me to. Now this sounds like no big deal but the cemetery is only one acre (ish) and there have been a lot of volunteers working on the site and I'm the pedantically fastidiously methodical type who likes to do one square at a time (plod plod plod insert tortoise picture here plod plod plod) and it finally PAID OFF!! oh yes, being slow and careful may not get you the easy wins, but it does help you find the hidden gems. I will have to check measurements carefully next visit in order to identify the grave.
I'm thinking about doing a guided tour (from a heritage and archaeology point of view) of the site when I'm done so if anyone is interested do send me an email, I will try to pick a date that is not on a long weekend..
Tired, dirty, happy...and seeing the end in sight and not totally happy that it's almost done...this has been a LOT of fun and I don't want it to end just yet...
Thursday 7 June 2012
A Great Day at Reilly Cemetery
I had a great day, I really did. The weather was lovely; warm with just enough breeze to keep me from melting, and not a bug to be seen.
I did see an unusual turtle way up there on the hill, I assume she was looking for a place to nest. She was a lot like a snapper but with a much smoother shell and far less algae 'hair'.
I recorded 22 5mx5m squares and matched one monument with its base. I now know the final resting place of Alexander Usher and his wife Elizabeth Courtney -- it felt great to give someone back their name.
I cleaned up and out early as I was invited to coffee at the landowner's house. It was a chance to wash up (I may never take running water for granted again) and as soon as I sat down was presented with this... Your eyes are fine, do not adjust your set, that is indeed the original land GRANT for the property of which Reilly Cemetery is part. I was glad my hands were clean! It's a pleasure and a privilege to be permitted to handle primary documentary material such as this and there was a small stack of 'em...Thank you so much DG.
Just a note to anyone who may be so fortunate as to have in their possession such a treasure...keep it out of bright light, in a dry location and for the love of whatever deity you prefer, don't photocopy it as the ink is light sensitive and will fade badly. If it has spent the last hundred years folded leave it folded because to flatten it out like you would for framing it might make it break at the crease. This one has had some moisture exposure a long time ago and has some foxing (rust coloured marks) but the ink is still quite easy to read and it's in pretty good shape over all.
So yes, I had a totally satisfying day today. Love doing this stuff.
I did see an unusual turtle way up there on the hill, I assume she was looking for a place to nest. She was a lot like a snapper but with a much smoother shell and far less algae 'hair'.
I recorded 22 5mx5m squares and matched one monument with its base. I now know the final resting place of Alexander Usher and his wife Elizabeth Courtney -- it felt great to give someone back their name.
Just a note to anyone who may be so fortunate as to have in their possession such a treasure...keep it out of bright light, in a dry location and for the love of whatever deity you prefer, don't photocopy it as the ink is light sensitive and will fade badly. If it has spent the last hundred years folded leave it folded because to flatten it out like you would for framing it might make it break at the crease. This one has had some moisture exposure a long time ago and has some foxing (rust coloured marks) but the ink is still quite easy to read and it's in pretty good shape over all.
So yes, I had a totally satisfying day today. Love doing this stuff.
Wednesday 6 June 2012
Can anyone identify this rose?
Another delightful find for this (edited for privacy purposes Nov 2012) girl...there are live ELM TREES at Reilly Cemetery. I have never seen a living elm tree as of course they were wiped out in Ontario decades ago. Darn, today's pics don't show them well but they ARE there and that is seriously cool. Nice shade trees...
Check out the new and improved view...
Monday 4 June 2012
Back in action and a sincere thank you
My week off was remarkably full-- I got a fair bit of reading done and a good case of eye strain in the process, and then I ran off to the conference I mentioned last post. The conference was a mixed bag with some fantastic presentations, some middling ones, and a few that would make excellent sleeping aids had I the sense to record them for later use. But I digress... while I was away a group of 5 very dedicated people worked in wretchedly cold, wet conditions to clear the northern half of the cemetery. I cannot express my thanks adequately. Because of their efforts I can now do a decent job of mapping the rest of the cemetery and I can gather what information remains there so that it will not be lost again. Again my sincere thanks.
Speaking of mapping, I have found some interesting (and FREE, hurrah!) software that will let me take my drawings and transfer them to something a lot easier to understand. I never said I was an artist. I have played around with it a bit and I think it will be useful to record the cemetery at several levels, from general to specific, and with varying aspects as the focus eg. where the monuments are, where the vegetation is, how do they relate to each other and so on. I'll be back in the graveyard Tuesday, Wednesday or Wednesday and Thursday depending on weather and volunteers to help me grid and map. Showers I can work in but a steady downpour wrecks my notes in record time. All help is welcome so if you have time and want to drop in please do!
Speaking of mapping, I have found some interesting (and FREE, hurrah!) software that will let me take my drawings and transfer them to something a lot easier to understand. I never said I was an artist. I have played around with it a bit and I think it will be useful to record the cemetery at several levels, from general to specific, and with varying aspects as the focus eg. where the monuments are, where the vegetation is, how do they relate to each other and so on. I'll be back in the graveyard Tuesday, Wednesday or Wednesday and Thursday depending on weather and volunteers to help me grid and map. Showers I can work in but a steady downpour wrecks my notes in record time. All help is welcome so if you have time and want to drop in please do!
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