Off the beaten path you will occasionally run across these in out of the way places. This one looked like it had some reasonably recent headstones in it despite looking horribly rundown. Some you run across have just been abandoned to time and the elements. The date on the top says 1908. There are no signs of civilization anywhere nearby.
I used to work in a financial management firm that had some religious organizations as clients. A particular diocese had a large number of smaller segregated funds within their portfolio that they could not touch. These particular funds were cemetary funds. They were set up to look after the care and maintenance of cemetaries. Some of the sites that they looked after were in the middle of nowhere, the church and settlement that was once there disappeared over time however they were obligated to still look after the burial site. There were times it was a bit of a chore to find someone to hire to clean up the site and keep it presentable, mainly because some were so out of the way. They did honour their obligations and I found it somehow reassuring that these people were looked after long after they were gone. Personally I am opting for the cremation route and no service.
There is a bit of a misconception about some religious organizations being rich. Some may have a lot of money, and largely is it money that they cannot use or access. It has been spoken for and assigned a certain purpose. All of the individual segregated restricted funds can look like a lot of money. I would like to think someone looks after this spot, it certainly could use some care.
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| Highland Cemetery April 12, 2015 |
Love to wander through cemeteries. Nothing creepy about them at all. In fact we used to live right next to one years ago. Lots of soldiers from Washington's army were buried there.
ReplyDeleteThat must be fascinating. If I see an abandoned cemetary I look for the remains of a town or church. Many times there is nothing. I find it interesting.
DeleteI live in rural, coastal SC. The nearby black country church (some age on it also) is built adjacent to the vestiges of a colonial/early 19th century planter cemetary.that may have included a church but I believe the church was about 4 miles further SE along one of the few old colonial roads in SC Gen Washington traveled after the Revolution, ala "G Washington slept here", all over New England.
ReplyDeleteHe made it a habit to sleep only in public accomodations in SC because he despised Charles Coatesworth Pinckney. He would not stay with Pinckney but could not afford to offend the powerful man.
When he got way down here in the Low Country, ~ a day from the ferry crossing to Savannah, it is said that Washington and his driver contrived a breakdown at the entrance to the plantation of Thomas Heyward, Jr, a close friend, ex-British prisoner of war and signer of the Declaration of Independence. Heyward probably knew of the plan in advance and invited Wash. to spend the night at his house (~10 miles away from any inn) while "repairs took place". What was a poor General to do in those circumstances.
I believe that the original church was in the vicinity there, where Heywards Jr and Sr lived on contiguous plantations surrounded by other nearby wealthy men as opposed to the area up the road where I live. It is swampier and the plantations (I think) were smaller and broken up across hammocks in the swamp and islands in the salt water creeks. There are remains of very old palmetto pilings in the gully next to my house that were probably from a plantation dock in an area where few crop harvests traveled anywhere by road until the advent of the railroad and nearby depots.
The graves near the black church (that I have found) date from the late 1700s to ~ 1820 and the names on the stones match those of many local islands, creeks and areas (referring to the old plantations and/or their owners).
DeleteThis is the most unique and fascinating comment I have received to date. Alberta became a province in 1905 so nothing here is really old in comparison to where you are. With luck I will get to travel through your area sometime. Thank you for commenting.
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