| After going on a field trip
with my son and daughter near Halloween time to learn about Graveyards, I
found it so interesting I wanted to share what I learned. It is
something I never even thought twice about and frankly I didn't want to
either, until their teacher convinced me to join them, and promised it
would be interesting...so I tagged along. I was supposed to be
making sure the kids were quiet and behaving, but I soon found myself
intrigued by what I was learning.
First if you ever want to go and visit or study a grave yard, you must be
respectful of the place. Get permission first. Leave it just as you found
it. Take nothing from it and move nothing in it. After all, you are
treading on sacred grounds.
About Gravestones:
Gravestones are made from Granite, Marble,
Sandstone, and Slate. Today gravestones are mainly made from granite which
can withstand much natural abuse. Granite gravestones can be seen in many
beautiful colors, sizes, shapes, and sketches drawn right in them.
However, older gravestones did not hold up as well with natural abuse
like, weather, acid rain, lawn work, weed-whackers, and vandals. Many
gravestones from the past are worn down almost to the point of not being
able to read.
Every gravestone tells a story. Most
families can only trace back to their great-great grandparents.
Things you may find out about the person
from their gravestone:
| Their birth date |
| The day they died |
| If they were a brother,
sister, mother, father, etc... |
| Sometimes a gravestone
will state how they died |
| Their social status |
| Some might have special
markers indicating a group or membership like the branch in the
military they served, or what war they were in, or even what
organization they belonged to, like the masons, or others. |
| What religion they are |
| |
Interesting things you can learn about
in a grave yard:
| Most families are buried
together or near each other. |
| If you see many graves
which have the same date of death, and were buried near each other,
perhaps there was a fire, or an illness that effected many people. |
| In the past daughters,
even if they were married, were buried with their mother, not their
husband. |
| |
|
