Gerry, that's just super! Wish we could have been there, too! Looking forward to seeing the pictures. See you tomorrow. Anne C. -----Original Message----- From: Gerald Gieger <[email protected]> To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Date: Friday, September 01, 2000 2:49 PM Subject: [GEIGER] Cemetery >Am I excited??? You be the Judge. > >Right now, I am sitting at the Rincon Public Library at Rincon GA, waiting >for the rest of our group to arrive for the Salzburger Festival at >Ebenezer...However, I just came from Wal-Mart where I had my film developed >and printed...Wowwww! > >This past Tuesday, I arrived at Collins, MS at about 7:50AM, before the >Courthouse had opened...I left Texas about 7:30PM on Monday Night...I went >to see the 911 Coordinator and she gave me directions to several places and >some maps. Then I went to check in at the local motel...And called Cousin >Jessie Gieger, the only Gieger still living in Collins... He is a g-grandson >of Lorenzo Dow Gieger, son of gg-Uncle Zachariah...Jessie was not there, so >I called a Mr. R.C. Sanford and he said come on down here and I will take >you to the site of Jessie and Tobitha's graves (our ggg-grandparents)...Now >several people have been there and unable to find the graves because they >are in the woods on a creek bank with no upright markers...slabs of concrete >cover the graves. > >I followed Mr. Sanford in his pickup as he drove to a fence-row and said >they are over there...He gave me a couple of other pointers, but said I >haven't seen them in about 40 years... > >I climbed the six-foot barbed and net-wire fence and started >walking...remember this is "woods" I mean, "real woods" with heavy >undergrowth of briars and every vine you can imagine...I took a pair of >cutters and a little spade like you plant flowers with in your garden...and >started making my way into the under-growth. Soon I was out of sight of Mr. >Sanford, so he went back to his house and left me to hunt...He didn't tell >me to look out for the 'feral' Emus that might be in there, or the >alligators. Anyway, I walked about 50 yards straight from the fence and it >started to slope off down into the creek bed...I remembered that Cousin >Edna's book said it had a little fence around it...but I saw no fence...in >fact I saw nothing but briars and vines and limbs...I turned back to the >right and started walking in that direction...I say walking, but it was >really weaving in and out between trees and cutting my way along...even >though it was shaded, it was HOT, about 102 deg...When I got to a clearing >which was the power-line right of way, he had said I would be too far so I >decided to head back to the fence-row. Still no graves...Now I had made a >semi-circle and so I thought "well, go back to where you climbed >over...Stupid" I started walking, and looking for my vehicle, thru the >underbrush...and I thought "Lord, Help me find those graves!" Now mind you, >the soil is the color of new concrete and the armadillos have burrowed >everywhere. About ten more paces and on my right, I noticed something that >looked like broken concrete, so I walked over and picked it up, hoping >against hope that the slabs had not completely deteriorated. When I picked >it up, I noticed another piece of concrete sticking out of the ground. I >quickly started scraping with my hands and there it was, "Tobitha Martin, >wife of Jessie Gieger..." I then started scraping furiously, and trying to >find the others...there was about two inches of dirt and roots and leaves on >top of them, but I found two...I was so exuberant, but knew that it was >getting late and that I could not get them cleared without some more tools. >I looked around, and there as Cousin Edna had said, was that barbed wire >fence, on the ground and the 't' posts all bent and leaning over...I got >down on my hands and knees looking for the fence and my car...and there I >saw it, about 60 yards away at about 30 degrees from the fence...almost a >straight line. > >I walked back to the fence, climbed over and drove to Mr. Sanford's house, >telling him that I had to go buy a shovel and a broom and some chalk so I >could make photos the next morning...after a little chat, Mrs. Sanford said >the third grave was in a different line, and not side beside as we had >thought...I told them I would be back in the morning... > >When I got to the Motel, Cousin Jessie called and said he would be over at >8:00AM with the shovel and broom, and everything we needed...I was so >excited that I could hardly get to sleep...After breakfast, we stopped by >the Auto supply and bought some florescent Orange paint, then went back over >to the Sanford's...they were not there, so we let ourselves in to the >pasture and drove down to where I had crawled over, the day before...We >started looking and after about ten minutes, we spotted the site... > >Well, to end this story, Jessie and I cleaned off the grave covers and we >even found the third one...I chalked and photographed them and now I have >the proof...we painted the trees with the orange paint all the way out so >that anyone else who is looking can find them, at least for a few years... > >Gerry > >P.S. Some of you will want these pictures, so I will try to post them in a >few weeks... >_________________________________________________________________________ >Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. > >Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at >http://profiles.msn.com. > > >==== GEIGER Mailing List ==== >Visit the GEIGER mailing list archives: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/GEIGER-L/ > >============================== >Genealogy calendars, guestbooks and more: >Visit RootsWeb's Resource Center at >http://resources.rootsweb.com/ >