Somewhat of a VERY old puzzle I've been going over

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

While living and working in Nashville, I had to go help do some landscaping at a new home we picked up in a new subdivision well outside town. All was cool, and the job went easily, except for one small out-of-place thing- exactly between the house and the neighbor's house was a clump of wild, weedy trees. The whole thing was perhaps thirty feet across, and I wondered why it had not been cleaned up with the rest of the property when the houses were built.

I soon found out- my boss told me there were some graves inside the area, and it's illegal to disturb them. It's still considered to be Sanctified ground. Cool, said I- I can understand that. So I went in to look, and sure enough there was a group of three gravestones in the middle of it all. I took some pictures and forgot all about it until I found the negatives a couple days ago.

Two markers were illegible due to extreme age, but the third one, resting against a tree, had been slightly better protected. After analyzing the photos I saw the stand of trees is permanently occupied by one Sterling B. Thornton and at least two others. It appears he died in either 1842 or 1847 (the death date is partially blocked by some leaves on a weedy branch). Although I can't prove it, I suspect it may have been a multiple burial due to disease or disaster. Remember, this was outside of Nashville Tennessee a hundred fifty years ago. The area was still very much untamed at the time and real civilization was many miles away.









Whomever these souls may be, may they Rest In Peace.

[mopinko]

1. so what is the mystery, exactly?

i think the smaller stone could just as easily be a child. can't really read the dates in the pic, but they look like 181*- 181*, so that would make it a little kid. i think that burying a child on top of an existing grave, especially of a parent, is pretty common. i also don't think there would be a big difference in the stones because of the trees. they don't look that old, and probably didn't spring up until after the graves stopped being tended.
lots of old census records are available online. you might be able to figure out who they were.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

4. More a personal puzzle than a grand mystery

I've done everything I can to lift the numbers from the stone- although the birth date may very well be 1812 or 7, the death date is definitely 184*.

[radfringe]

8. actually the number you have circled

looks like a 4 to me

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. My dear Prisoner_Number_Six ...

Oh, those are such cool photos...

I love love love old graveyards...

When I was visiting NVWhino in NoCal a couple of years ago, we prowled through a big old one that's still in use...

It's very cool to read the dates and names from the old ones...

Yes indeed...

May they continue to Rest in Peace...

You done good, sweetie...

:hug:

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

5. There is a historical cemetery in Nashville I used to visit

It's called Mount Olivet. I enjoyed it because it has some of the coolest headstones I've ever seen- I'll see if I have any good shots and perhaps will post them for you at some point in the near future.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

7. I would love to see any pics of that sort!

Thanks, sweetie...:hug:

[mokawanis]

3. Reminds me

of the Gold Rush cemetery in Skagway, Alaska. Lots of markers, including quite a few chuldren. Most of them were in their 30's or 40's when they died. Soapy Smith's marker is there as well as his protagonist's Frank Reid.

[Capn Sunshine]

6. Reminds me of the freeway in Tejas

the I 45, north of Houston, takes a sudden jog and splits in two right outside of the town of Spring.
It's the Wuensche family cemetery, preserved from the intrusions of the Interstate. The Wuensche family owned all the land for miles around, and in the town proper, they owned the restaurant notable for the upstairs banquet room where the contractural signings for the progenitors of Standard Oil took place.

God bless 'em all. My Grandather was the notary at the sacred event, and the Standard Oil stock he left the family has increased bountifully and manifold.

[China_cat]

9. Cleaning up a grave site is not disturbing it

It's one of the most respectful things you can do for those buried there. It means a lot of hand work...you don't go in with a bush hog...but if it were illegal to clean up a grave site, then your better cemeteries would look like this one, wouldn't they?

Frankly, I think your boss just wanted to get out of some work. Check with local authorities and then contact a historical society for some help returning the area to a nice aspect. Oh, and the inscriptions on those headstones can be brought back up. Our Girl Scout Plantation includes a small cemetery dating back to the 1700's with gravestones that were much like the ones you photographed. A memorial maker was able to clean up the stones and restore the inscriptions for us.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

10. I'll bet it was a family graveyard...

Farmers often chose to lay family members to rest on their own property, rather than in the town or in a church cemetary. They didn't have to pay for a plot; and it was more accessible for the family to visit. Also, they often didn't want someone else maintaining their loved ones' graves.

Unless the area was virgin woodland, there was most likely a small farm nearby.