Great idea. Billie in Florida ----- Original Message ----- From: <Patdmom@aol.com> To: <MARTIN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2002 5:36 PM Subject: [MARTIN-L] Leaving your name on a stone... > A few weeks ago, someone wrote to one of the lists I belong to, and asked if > anyone had ever left their name and contact info on a family gravestone. It > seemed to me that he/she was hesitant about doing it for one reason or > another. I thought it was a very interesting idea - and a few people > responded to the question. Some said they had, and were contacted. I > thought I kept that email, because I liked the idea, but I can't find it now > - so I'm posting this on all my lists. > > I was browsing old "Missing Links" and "Somebody's Links" today and just > happened to run across the following contribution. I removed the sender's > name, because I didn't contact them - but here's the rest of their message: > > MISSING LINKS: A Weekly Newsletter for Genealogists > Vol. 3, No. 18, 1 May 1998 > Copyright (c) 1996-98 Julia M. Case and Myra Vanderpool Gormley > > SUCCESSFUL LINKS: POPPIES by [name removed] > > A few years ago while researching PENNINGTON, SLAVEN, and LOWDERMILK lines, I > traveled across the USA to some of the old and, I thought, abandoned > graveyards. Some were in fields or out in the woods. > > On the tombstone I would place a 3x5 card with a note saying who was buried > there and my relationship and address. I would put it in a ziplock bag and > tape it to the tombstone securely. > > When we got back to California after a month I had letters from cousins I did > not know even existed. Some saw the message, copied the info down and relayed > it through the community. I really felt that my ancestors played a great role > in my finding info about them. > > I also sprinkled seeds of our state flower on the gravesite. I understand at > some locations there are now Golden Poppies growing. When I went back to one > of the sites several years later I easily found the site from the road by the > orange carpet. > > [Ed.'s Note: An alternative to the use of tape, which might damage a > tombstone, is to skewer the waterproof bag containing such a note to the > ground beside the tombstone using a stick, such as a stake used to support > plants.] > > ***************************************************************** > > Published in MISSING LINKS NEWSLETTER For Genealogists; Vol. 3, No. 18, 1 May > 1998; > http://www.PetuniaPress.com/ > > > And what I thought was a new, interesting and unique idea - isn't, of course. > I guess that just goes to show ya' - whatever we dream up to try, has > probably been done before. And this was done before I even had a computer - > let alone started looking for my ancestors! > > > Pat Cross Davis - Texas > patdmom@aol.com > > Burke, Callis, Carrothers, Cross, Martin, Paul, Warren, Wolfe, Word >