Charlotte - You describe it just as my mother, Patricia McDonough Walker described it - as she went out there when little and played and picniced at the cemetery that was in walking distance of so many homes. Her grandfather James Allen cut the grass out there with a blade lawnmover (I don't know what you call a lawnmover without a motor) and kept up all of my family members grave sites which I am ashamed to say are not in very good condition today. It is a disgrace to all of our ancestors not just at Oakwood but at the other city owned cemeteries for the way they are kept up. That is one reason at my mothers death a few years back we picked Mt. Calvary which is kept very nice and is not owned by the city!! I have visited most of the city owned one and I think Oakwood is the worse! Marie -----Original Message----- From: Charlotte Geier <chargerfree@mindspring.com> To: VAHANOVE-L@rootsweb.com Sent: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 07:57:36 -0700 Subject: [VAHANOVE] Discussion on Oakwood Cemetery Recent discussions on the condition of Oakwood Cemetery have saddened me greatly. I well remember as a child in the 50's, visiting often this then well-manicured and 'perpetually' maintained cemetery in which my paternal great grandmother, grandmother and uncles are buried. There was always a feeling of gracefulness and quiet peace and dignity to this 'resting place' - this land which my great grandmother, Emily Cooke Shore Watkins sold to the city of Richmond August 16, 1854. We were not permitted to walk on any graves back then, though as children we were often awestruck at some of the magnificent grave monuments. The last I heard, a marker for one of my uncles is missing, and someone has cut down the gentle white lilac shrub my grandmother planted at the head of her youngest son's grave. There are supposedly one or two spaces left in grandmother's lot, and I had often imagined I might rest in peace there one day with the Woody's Funeral Home officiating as they have for a! ll family members buried there. Hearing of the deterioration of Oakwood and its surroundings makes that sound not so desireable now. For reasons unknown to us descendants, our CSA veteran grandfather, Robert Dandridge Clarke chose to be buried in 1916 at his home, 'Old Tavern Farm' in Quinton, New Kent County rather than in Oakwood. Charlotte Clarke Geier ==== VAHANOVE Mailing List ==== NOTICE: Posting of virus warnings, test messages, chain letters, political announcements, current events, items for sale, personal messages, flames, etc. (in other words - spam) is NOT ALLOWED and will be grounds for removal. Consideration for exceptions, contact Kathleen Burnett kathleenburnett@earthlink.net ============================== Jumpstart your genealogy with OneWorldTree. Search not only for ancestors, but entire generations. Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13972/rd.ashx