Thanks a million for that website! I'll definitely post some gravestones there. (I'll post my gravestones today as soon as I have one second). Can't wait to read your blog, too, Randi. Great idea. Thanks for the note. Yes, it is unbelievable to make a breakthrough. Going to Belmont County told me so much about my ancestor's life. It was great. Jae On Oct 28, 2006, at 2:11 PM, Randi Meetzen wrote: > I am always happy to hear of someone elses lucky breakthrough.That > is a terrific story. I had the same experience when I vacationed in > Ohio this summer. I was in the village of Savannah in Ashland > County, Ohio and traipsing along in 100 degrees of muggy weather > when before me was a large monument with my gggrandparents name > across it. It is an indescribable feeling to finally see it after > years of searching isnt it? > There is a website called http:// > ohiogravestones.org/ where you can put your photos if > you like to share them. I contributed several dozen of my Tucker, > Rogers, palmer and Dickson photos. > I also started my own little genealogy blog where I posted about > 80 family tombstone pictures http://360.yahoo.com/ > my_profile-3aZNZP48fqM3elMBsqiyi2PxqPXTUe2OLf7ABjw-?cq=1 > Looking forward to seeing what you got! > Randi > > Jae BROWN <jberry@indy.rr.com> wrote: > > Hi, everyone, > > Some may want to hear about my trip to Belmont County, though perhaps > you might find it uneventful. First, it was very brief -- only about > five hours out of our vacation. But, for me, it was a great > breakthrough in my genealogy of the Berry family. On Saturday > afternoon, I'll send you all a link to the photos I took, including > many graves of Naylor, Powell, Current, Beard, Hinton, Shry, Brown, > Logan, and more. > > Thanks to a member of this list, I have found one of my ancestors in > Belmont County and evidence that links her to the family at large. > Unfortunately, I can't find the list member's name! I'm so sorry and > I hope you will make yourself known to me again. Anyway, this list > member mentioned a book that had inscriptions from a book called > "Tombstones of Belmont County." One inscription in the book was > tantalizingly close to the information I had on one of my ancestors. > But the age was wrong! Blast! > > So we went to Belmont County, hoping to prove the book wrong (and > right) and we did prove it wrong and right. The tombstone > inscription was from a stone at the Pleasant Ridge Methodist Church > graveyard. I suppose I am used to Indiana, because I thought it > couldn't be much trouble to locate a church graveyard. How wrong I > was. > > Pleasant Ridge Methodist is a living church but, like most things > near Barnesville, it is extraordinarily rural. Located in the hilly > country of Wayne Township, the church is surrounded by many Amish and > "English" farms and what land is not grazed by cattle is planted in > beans. While the area is remote, it is not backward, as my husband > discovered when he inadvertently touched a farm fence. It was > electrified. (What an eye opener!) > > The directions normally given to Pleasant Ridge got us in the > vicinity but it took the locals to actually direct us to the church. > These 'township roads' are steep hill roads located in lonely areas > of the county! We drove for a long time, amazed by the beauty of the > hills but also surprised when we saw another human. > > The church itself has a delightful white neo-gothic steeple and it is > situated in a most picturesque location. The fall leaves were maybe > one week past perfect but nonetheless the area of vast and lovely. > The church is situated alone on the ridge and the well-tended > graveyard is across the unpaved road. The graves are old but many > stones are new, suggesting that the families are still in the area > and still involved in their history. At least two family groups of > graves are in disarray -- one because it has a tree growing through > the group and one because the stones have collapsed and been piled up > upon each other. > > We found our stones just as we were giving up the search. Though the > graveyard is small, the oldest stones, and ours were among them, are > severely etched and worn. After a long search in Barnesville, we > couldn't locate chalk to highlight the inscriptions and we settled > for crayons. I am thrilled to tell you we found the grave of my gr-gr- > grandfather's daughter, ADA, who died young (age 10) in Belmont > county. The 'Tombstones' book did not include the complete stone > inscription and, with the added detail, we were left without a shred > of doubt that, on the very spot we were standing, also stood my > pioneering gr-gr-grandparents! How difficult it was to scale these > hills and go to church, we can only guess. We found Ada's grave > adjacent to two other graves of ancestors whose names we recognized > from census records. An incredible breaththrough! > > I will post a link to photos tomorrow! > > Jae' > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to OHBELMON- > request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message > > > > Randi Bowles-Meentzen > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to OHBELMON- > request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message