Nancee -- you are becoming QUITE THE WRITER!! Keep up the good works and words. -S > [Original Message] > From: Nancee Seifert <iggy29@grm.net> > To: <IADECATU@rootsweb.com> > Date: 7/16/2010 8:48:31 AM > Subject: [IADECATU] CEMETERY GYPSY WITH ANOTHER 'MARBLE ORCHARD' ADVENTURE.. > > Yesterday seemed like a fine day to head for Decatur County - although it > was still "hotter than a pistol".. I wanted to go to New Salem Cemetery in > Hamilton Twp. Had been by it several times when I was looking for the Dale, > Gammill & Cowles Cemeteries earlier this spring.. It was nice not having to > wonder where it was. So, I took pictures (and, yes, chalked some) of all > the stones; this is a very nice cemetery which sits behind the New Salem > Baptist Church. > > By then I was getting hungry, so decided to go to Pillars in Leon for a > Reuben with beer-batter fries.......yum.. While eating, I was looking at my > homemade Decatur Co. map with cemeteries and (epiphany...) I decided to > head to Eden Twp. to look for the Mt. Tabor Cemetery. > > I'd driven Co. Rd. R52 (also known as Lineville Rd.) several times and > according to my map it was at the end of the first 'dirt road' to the East. > It was fairly dry, so I thought "why not?" Well, I drove over the hills > and through the dirt/almost mud to the end of the road, which became a > farmer's equipment building.. No sign of Mt. Tabor Cemetery. So, I headed > back the way I came -- not being a 'quitter' and on a mission!! I flagged > down a farmer on his tractor and asked if he knew where the cemetery might > be and he said there was an old cemetery back behind his dad's property; to > go back to R52 and take the NEXT gravel road to the Left and follow it to > the end. It is now maintained by the county.. For anybody desiring to see > this forgotten cemetery, the road to the left off R52 is Quinn Road and it > is about 1 1/2 miles to where it dead ends and the cemetery sits. > > This little old cemetery has about 12 headstones, which I chalked. I used > my tire iron, aka 'burglar beater' to dig around a couple of them so I could > read them, as they'd sank into the ground -- one was a Folgers coffee can > filled with concrete and the temporary metal marker pushed down through the > center into the ground.. Unfortunately the top of the marker was long gone, > so don't know who it was for. I got my witching wires out and proceeded to > walk the cemetery, finding numerous burials with no markers -- several rocks > that, indeed, were burial markers.. My wires were going every which way, > which is a strange feeling, as though those buried there were calling out > find me, find me".... (yes, I'm sane...) > > After talking with Darlene Arnold in Chariton the other day, I tried to use > one wire, as she'd told me, and outline the size of the burials -- to see if > it was an adult or child, or both.. Didn't work for me.. > > I headed back home on Hwy 69, noticing all the wild flowers growing in the > ditches; blue flax, brown eyed susans, lavender bee balm, orange lilies, and > queen Ann's lace.. How they tolerate the Iowa heat and humidity is beyond me > -- but I'm glad they do.. The ticks were also out and happy to see me > coming -- the little creeps!! > > So, until my next 'marble orchard' adventure -- My Best Always, Nancee > > > > www.iagenweb.org/decatur > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to IADECATU-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message