Thanks David for the wonderful story you sent along. We have often wondered if our gr.gr.gr. grandparents, Jacob T and Rachel Ames Underhill aren't buried on the Underhill farm in Ruggles Twp., Ashland Co., OH (It was Huron Co. at the time they lived there.). I was fortunate to be able to travel back to OH a few years ago, was directed by Tom Neel to the farm, but didn't go to the door as I was sure the family that lived there wouldn't of known if they were buried there, but we don't find them after 1850, and I have extensive records from later years that have no mention of what happened to them. It would be wonderful if someone did find their graves and had a article published about them. Speaking of the Blue Girl, my Gr.Grandmother, Jennie Gristy Mehl, who was born in 1870 had painted a portrait of the Blue Girl. She must of seen the original or a copy at some point. According to my Grandparents, she was a fabulous painter and could paint from memory, never needing a subject to look at. I saw her painting when I was young, but I don't know where it ended up after my grandparents deaths in 1970. Myrna ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Maynard" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, March 25, 2005 5:45 AM Subject: [OHLORAIN] History unearthed IN BARN > History unearthed IN BARN > > Story from the Friday, March 25, 2005 Edition of the Chronicle Telegram > > History unearthed IN BARN > Young girl in 1860s portrait found buried near Wellington > > Shawn Foucher > The Chronicle-Telegram > HUNTINGTON TWP. - Thursday afternoon beneath the cool, damp clay of a township barn floor, history > was unearthed. > When Dan Dailey and his two helpers, Greg McConaha, 33, and Greg Bentley, 30, struck something > hard while digging a posthole in an old barn next to the > $450,000 home Dailey bought last spring, they figured they'd just cement around it and move on. > They figured wrong. > "You don't just cover something like this up and forget about it," Dailey said late Thursday, > hours after the astounding discovery of a 142-year-old gravesite > belonging to 3-year-old Hattie Adele Pratt, the subject of an Archibald Willard painting, "Blue > Girl." > Willard, a Bedford native who died in 1918, is more recognizable as the artist who painted the > famous "Spirit of '76" portrait. > Hattie Adele was the daughter of Benjamin and Alta Pratt, according to past owners of the > homestead. Hattie died in 1862 at the tender age of 3, but not > before a photographer captured her image in a photo. Willard painted "Blue Girl" from the photo > years later. > It was common for families to bury their dead in family plots on farms, said Coroner Paul Matus. > Over the years Hattie's plot was covered and lost - or not - over a series of ownerships. The > Daileys bought the home from the Pruitts last May, who owned > the home for more than 50 years. Dailey was attracted to the home's rich history - it was built in > 1840 by Reverend Ansel Clark, a fierce enemy of slavery. > Its basement, attic and walls contain a slew of hiding places and secret passages that hid slaves > passing through on the Underground Railroad. > Dailey is turning the property into an alpaca farm, but his discovery Thursday afternoon took his > work in a completely different direction. > "We were digging for a post in the barn," Dailey said. "It was located about a foot beneath where > we dug." > Initially, they hit a slat of sandstone and broke it up; as they dug deeper they found marble. > "I wiped it off and saw the word 'died,' " Dailey said. "I thought, 'Uh-oh, we've got a body > here.' " > They uncovered an exquisitely hand-carved marble gravestone, about 20 inches by 12 inches. A small > hand holding flowers is carved at the top of the grave > marker, with a name underneath: "Hattie Adele." Beneath that, a date: "Died Oct. 21, 1862 . 3 > years - 5 mos - > 10 days." > Dailey immediately called in his wife. > "I asked, 'What does the name Hattie Pratt mean to you?'" > "That's The Little Blue Girl in Willard's painting," said Marge, his wife. > "Well, she's in the barn," he said. > Dailey called the Wellington police. > "What do you do when you uncover a grave in your backyard?" Dailey said he asked the dispatcher. > "I don't know how to answer that question," she said. The dispatcher made a few calls, eventually > contacting Matus and the Wellington Historical Society. > A small fervor erupted, and today McConaha, Bentley and Dailey and his family are racing to > contact an 80-year-old cousin of Hattie Adele who stopped out > at the house last July. > "He just came by to show his wife where he grew up," Marge said. "We can't remember his name or > anything, but we'd like to get in touch with him." > As the owners of the property, the Daileys are the legal owners of the gravesite, but they say > they're waiting to contact the family before moving further. > Matus and members of the Wellington Historical Society will be at the site today to inspect the > grave, but Dailey is certain there will be more graves. > "There's no way that they would just bury her here by herself," he said. "Her mother and father > have to be nearby." > In a small barn in Wellington, history is being uncovered, but for the Daileys, today is going to > be a long day of digging. > Contact Shawn Foucher at 329-7197 or > [email protected] > > > -- > No virus found in this outgoing message. > Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. > Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.8.0 - Release Date: 3/21/2005 > > > > > ==== OHLORAIN Mailing List ==== > Search the Archive of Messages for OHLORAIN Mailing List > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/OHLORAIN >