Saturday night, June 2nd was the 6th Annual Bonaparte Historic Cemetery Tour. Several listmembers were in attendance as well as members of the Van Buren Co. Genealogical Society. Being a Bonaparte native, I am admittedly a bit prejudiced. <g> However, this is an outstanding event that draws a crowd from a wide, wide area. The tour lasts approximately 1 1/2 hours and features area citizens, dressed in costumes of the period, performing at "graveside" as a variety of "late residents." See photo at: http://bonaparte-iowa.com/ I was please to find my gg-grandmother, Nancy Johnson Rabb was the third stop on the tour this year. She came to Van Buren Co. in 1837. Her story mostly concerned her 2nd husband, Joseph Rabb, and the wooden tombstone that he, in his in his Last Will and Testament, instructed be built to his specific instructions . His Will and a photo of his wooden tombstone can be found at: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Ia/VanBurenWill/14 The Genealogy Society had a table set up with all their publications on display including the brand new Bonaparte Cemetery Book which has an every name index, maiden names, etc. of every "resident". A list of all their publications is at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~iavanbur/forsale.htm Again, if you have not participated in a cemetery tour such as this, I'd highly recommend it. In fact, the folks at Milton in Jackson township will be having their first such tour on June 30th. For more information, you can contact Fran Hunt at miltonfzh@lisco.com . ___________________________________________________________ «¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»¥«¤»§«¤» Rich Lowe richlowe@web-iowa.com Van Buren Co. IA GenWeb Coordinator http://www.rootsweb.com/~iavanbur/ IAVANBUR-L Mail List http://www.rootsweb.com/~iavanbur/how-to-subscribe.html Villages of Van Buren http://www.800-tourvbc.com