If you didn't attend the Saturday cemetery tour led by Stan Clarke...you missed a great time! He took us over the I-205 bridge into some of the very old Washington State cemeteries. We learned so much; but for all we learn, the more questions we have...like the beautiful tombstone that lists someone by the name of E. W. Pendleton who died in 1829. H'mmm, that's a bit early...and surely no marble tombstones were available back then...so, who was E. W. Pendleton. That'll keep us busy for at least a week trying to figure that one out. And...what does the word: "Artificer" mean? It was found on a Civil War website. Stan Clarke dug around and found the meaning: it means the bearer of that honor is "a skilled craftsman"... PRIVATES (Artificer & Farrier) These men were specialists who were paid an additional rate like teamsters. In winter camps and during lulls in active campaigning they broke out their tools from the battery wagon and forge and went to work. The artificer was primarily a blacksmith - he repaired the wood and iron parts of the battery carriages. The farriers specific task was to keep all the horses and mules shod - a large task considering the number of animals in a battery. There is some evidence that a few batteries had an artificer assigned to each platoon. However, most records indicate that only two men, or a maximum of three, were assigned this duty in a single battery. They received their instructions from the first sergeant and traveled in the rear of the battery near their tools. Stan has once again out-done himself! Every year I secretly say to myself "There's no way he can keep up with last year's Cemetery tour..." but every year he does. He has promised us a trip to Oregon City's old cemeteries next year. So, start making your plans now for the Troutdale Historical Societies annual Cemetery tour 2006 to Oregon City with Stan Clarke as the guide! I wonder if kids went on 'Cemetery tours' and learned to respect these great old cemeteries, if they would be so apt to desecrate them? As it is now, kids learn about cemeteries from Halloween myths and propaganda...all lies. A cemetery tour led by an 'expert' like Stan Clarke might take the mystery out of cemeteries. Again, Thanks Stan for another wonderful, informative, interesting, fascinating tour! Doneva Shepard my entire genealogy database, 61,000+ names http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=donevanell (be sure entire URL fits in your Address bar) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com