Just because there is snow don't forget the cemetery

As I sit here trying to put together my don't forget list for Christmas I remembered I have to get a wreath to put on my Grandmas gavesite. There have been years I must admit I forget until it is to late. They look so pretty a spot of color in a white landscape. Some years I have put a poinsetta or a gathering of evergreen. I have noticed some people even put a blanket of evergreen down. They are very pretty but costly. My style is something more simple but enough to say I remember and miss you.
But as with all times make sure your cemetery allows them and pick them back up if they start looking weathered.

Foot Stones

Foot stones are usually about 6 inches wide and only have initials on them. Usually they were not set like the head stone since they were moved to the next burial. The foot stones were generally used more as a marker than a monument.

Head Stones

Markers called head stones are placed at the west end of the burial but can be read from either direction. Most of the older cemeteries have burials East and West burials. Due to tightening spaces many city cemeteries have burials that are going in all directions. Sometimes there is a cement curb around the whole family burial plot. Or fencing would designate where their lot ended. Those who could afford it would have stones carved to designate what family owned the lot.

Forgotten Cemetery

One of my favorite area cemeteries is one that is closest to where I live. Just down the crossroad a couple of miles, it is invisible during the summer. But winter, when the grasses die and the leaves fall, its a different story.

When I was first married and new to the neighborhood, I often noticed this stand of sumac and wondered about the fact that it just stood there, taking up a small patch of a field. In winter when I drove by, I could see something in amidst the brush. It was just too far away to make out what it was.

I finally discovered, with the help of my hubby, was was born and raised in the area that it was indeed a small family cemetery. Just a few stones barely visible from the road.

There is no direct access, except cutting across the field. The family who owns the property discourages visitors.

Such a sad forgotten little cemetery.

Dating Tombstones

One way to figure out the the year your ancestor was buried is to examine the material from which the tombstone was made.
If your ancestor has a stone made of slate or field stone (except wood used by pioneer) chances are the stone dates from 1796-1830.
If the stone is flat topped hard marble, dates are about 1830-1849.
If it is round or pointed soft marble with cursive inscriptions, look for a date of 1845-1868.
Pylons and column monuments are usually dated 1860-1900.
Zinc monuments date from 1870-1900.
Masonic four-sided stones began in 1850 and are still in use today.
Granite, now common, came into use about 1900.

Surrerrar Cemetery

Surrerar Cemetery is far off the main road it is on a dusty seasonal road that follows the power line in Newaygo County. Several years ago Terry Wantz a local historian and friend ask me to help out trying to find names of people buried there. It is a lonely place but beautiful, it is sandy and forgotten and hard to reach.

The prairie was known as a place that many Native Americans called home and was a large village since it was close to the river where it was narrow and easy passing. It was also a rich hunting ground. Many believe the cemetery started out as a Native American burial ground. We also seen signs of burial mounds in the area. The area was also known as a place where two major trails leading to the Mackinaw area crossed according to maps of Native American trails that were found.

We have the names of about 8 people but that list is uncertain. You can see where several more people are buried by the indentations in the ground. Many people were moved to Oak Grove in Croton when the area was abandoned. Searching in the nearby fields you can see where a old building stood. A lilac tree plated there by someone years ago dreaming of what her new home will become. A few of the families who were the last to leave were English's, Overly's, Saunders and a Mr. Boyd. When looking for information neither the Newaygo County Goverment offices nor the Brooks Township have any records of this cemetery. It is also believe that Mr. Surrarrer was buried here.

Ransom Surrarrer made the first purchase of the land thus its name. On the 1880 atlas shows a Phillip Dickinson and his wife Sophonia Tibbits owning 160 acres on the edge of the prairie. It also shows records that they sold a piece of land for a new school that was to become Dickinson school.

Many families had moved here since it was a logging area and a days trip from Grand Rapids but this area was developing and many families moved on to more fertile land.

Terry has worked for several years keeping the area neat and trimmed up. Cutting the grass over the burial site. Putting a fence along the edge to keep Orv's off the burial area. Building and installing a sign and putting benches to rest on. It was a job that he took on as a sign of respect for his ancestors the Dickinson's.

The spelling has changed many times over the years from Serrarrer, Surarrer, among other spelling hence you will see spelling changes depending on the source used.

Cemetery Serendipity

I find it amazing how often one can be gifted by the spirits of cemeteries.

I don’t mean to sound mysterious, but many times I have driven into a strange cemetery and found, to my amazement that when I look up, there is the stone I am looking for. Or even a family member I didn’t even know was buried there.

When my co-worker and I attended a genealogy conference in Monroe MI several years ago, we left early with plenty of time to kill. We took the scenic route, as boss lady doesn’t like to take good roads or expressways if there is a back way to go. We got to Napoleon in south east Michigan, when we both thrilled to the sight of their cemetery with the dry stacked stone fence all around it. We had to stop. (Sadly, this was apparently just before I got my digital camera as I have none of the great pictures in my computer.)

We got pictures of some great gravestones, and there was a huge Civil War veterans memorial and we were just having a great time. When we went around the newer sections, I saw a stone with the name Cross on it. I laughingly said, maybe that’s my long lost uncle or something, knowing full well I had no one in that area.

Imagine my surprise when I mentioned it to my father later. He replied that my Great Aunt Flossie Allen had married a Cross who was a teacher in that area. I later found her obituary and by golly! She was buried in Napoleon.

It happened in Copemish when I drove in and found “Stiver” staring across from the passenger window.

It happened again just down the road when I saw Hubby’s family in a stone that read “Walsworth” just as I was exiting the cemetery

So given all of that serendipity, why can I never just walk up to my great- and great-great-grandparents graves in Chase? I've been there lots of times, but I have to seach each time I go.

Do they just like hiding?