Merry Christmas in Heaven, Mom

Two years ago, in the wee hours of Christmas morning, my mom left this Earth to be with Jesus. I miss her so much!

My daughters and I paid a visit to her grave on Christmas Eve, and adorned it in holiday style.

Merry Christmas in heaven, Mom!

Tombstone Tuesday - Perseverance PAYS!

Subtitle: Success in the Cemetery!

I'm posting today to share my excitement about a victory (of sorts) that I've had.  I thought that this was going to be more of a follow-up post, however, upon searching my blog, I've discovered that I never did write about the search for my maternal grandmother's grave marker.

My mother's mother, Mary Thomas, died in 1986.  She was buried in Calvary Cemetery, an historical burial ground in Norfolk, Virginia.  Because I spent the first 14 years of my genealogical journey completely focused on researching my paternal ancestors, it wasn't until just a few years ago, when I turned my attention to my mother's folks, that I decided to head over to Norfolk to visit my grandmother's grave.  Once I did, I was disappointed to discover that the spot where she rested was covered only by green grass, and wasn't marked in any way.

I was 24 years old when my grandmother died, and of course, I attended her funeral.  However, not being a cemetery or genealogy buff at the time, I can't say that I paid any attention to how the grave was marked.  But, what I did know (or at least what I thought) was that my mother and her two siblings would certainly have put some kind of a marker on their mother's grave.  I inquired at the cemetery office, but long story, short, they had no records related to the markers or headstones.  Their records only pertained to the actual burials.

At the advice of the person in the cemetery office, I contacted Hale Funeral Home, to see if they had any records pertaining to my grandmother's burial.  (I called right from the grounds of the cemetery, hoping to just drive right over!)  Unfortunately (and quite sadly), the person I spoke with told me a story of transferred management after family deaths, and records which had actually been THROWN AWAY.  If I recall correctly, all of the pre-1997 records of this funeral home, which has been serving African-Americans in the Tidewater area for 100 years, were destroyed during changes in management.  Needless to say, I was disappointed, and appalled.  Not only were the records of my own ancestors gone - I actually have several who were serviced by this funeral home - but so were those of hundreds of others. 

After this troubling revelation, it seemed that there would be no way for me to prove that there'd once been a marker at my grandmother's gravesite.  My mother told me that my uncle had handled the burial transactions, and when I asked him about it, he said he no longer had any of the paperwork, but reiterated that he "thought" there was "some kind of stone, or something" at the grave.  With nothing else to go on, I just kind of put this to the side, but vowed to one day get to the bottom of it. (No pun intended.) :)

Anyway, life and genealogy went on, and then one day, quite by accident, I ran across this picture, while going through some things at my mother's house:



My nephew, Robert, and my daughter, Natasha, beside the freshly-covered grave of their great-grandmother,
Mary Thomas.

So, there ya go!  You'd better believe I was doing the genealogy happy-dance, for here was all the proof I needed (and more)!  As soon as I saw this picture, I knew for sure that this was my grandmother's burial location, because it was the exact spot on which I'd stood with the cemetery caretaker, but all that was there was grass.  But here were my nephew, age 6, and my daughter, age 4 obviously not too long after my grandmother had been buried.

With this picture in hand, as well as the actual receipt for the 6-vault burial plot that my great-grandmother had purchased in 1935,  I took the 35-minute drive over to Norfolk last Monday, ready for battle.  I called ahead to let them know I was coming, and "Bret", the current manager of the cemetery, after hearing my plight, said he'd pull his records and be ready for me.  Once there, he and another employee in the office were very kind and accommodating towards me, so no fight was necessary. :)  Bret verified the location of my family plot (yes, it's a family plot, but I'll write about that in another post), and printed out a new map for me using their fancy-smancy new program.  Then, off we went, armed with my proof-providing picture to do a "test-dig". 

I couldn't believe how excited I was about this, but I was almost beside myself.  When we got to the plot, I used the picture to help Bret locate the exact spot in which to drive his shovel, and after just a couple of hits in that spot, we heard it - the unmistakable clang of metal against stone.

Bret marks the spot for the dig.

           

And so we began...

As Bret chiseled and dug, I continued to "coach" him, directionally.  After just a few minutes, I had all of the confirmation I needed.

Do you see what I see?




At this point, tears began to well up in my eyes, as I realized that we had, indeed, found my grandmother.  Of course she was there all along, but there was just something about the grave being unmarked that was very unsettling to me.  Now, I knew for sure that we were in the right spot, and presumably my grandma, along with her husband, her parents, and her uncle were all right there where they'd been laid to rest. 

Bret continued his work, commenting to me, "You were exactly right about it.", as he dug, more gently now, around the step.  In reverence to my ancestors, I remained silent, as he uncovered the unmistakable match to my photograph.

And there it is, the THOMAS surname, clear as day.

Just a few minutes after the step was completely revealed, as Bret was explaining to me that it would be raised and reset before the end of the week, a truck drove by with the very men who would be doing it. He summons them to stop, and they came over and heard the whole story.  Everyone involved (including Bret) seemed surprised and baffled that the marker had been allowed to sink like that, since the cemetery is well, and consistently cared for, but what happened, happened.  I'm just glad that they were so amicable about it, and willing to do the work (at no cost to my family, of course) to right the situation.  I didn't go back yet, but I'm guessing the work has been done.  I plan to go over this weekend to see.

There was so much more to this post, but, unfortunately, I hit a wrong button last night was I was creating it, and lost all but the very first part.  Time only permits me to redo this much for now, but thank you for reading.  Needless to say, my heart is glad. :)

Thanks for reading.

Renate



Tombstone Tuesday - Jacobina Sherrod Hawkins

My third-great grandmother, Jacobina/Jacobine Sherrod Hawkins, wife of Philemon; mother of Archibald, Madison, Lucy, Nathaniel (my gg-gf), Fannie, Mary, and Benjamin. Her grave is located in Oakwood Cemetery, Louisburg, NC.  Photo Source: http://www.findagrave.com/ (Memorial# 41496203)

Tombstone Tuesday - My Brother's Grave

Even though this picture features a person, more so than a grave, I felt it appropriate for Tombstone Tuesday, when I ran across it on my memory card just the other day.  Everyone who knows me knows that I always have my camera with me, and I randomly snap photos of even the simplest moments.  Here, on a ride out a few weeks ago (not the same ride I wrote about for Sentimental Sunday), I took my mom by the cemetery in Hampton where my brother, Arthur, is buried.  My mother was very reflective and was noticeably touched to be able to visit her son's grave site, even though she's now unable to get out to walk over to it.  This picture tells so much, and reaffirms for me, in yet another instance, that my mother, despite some occasional moments of dementia, is still herself and (as I already know, but others don't seem to), is not only a thinking person, but also one who experiences normal human emotions, whether she expresses them verbally, or not.

In this picture, Mary Yarborough gazes out towards the grave of her son (and my brother), Arthur Yarborough, Jr., (August 23, 1960 - April 6, 1984).

Tombstone Tuesday - An Unusual Find

Last week I visited Calvary Cemetery, in Norfolk, VA, the resting place of several of my maternal ancestors. Although my personal goals for the visit were met with disappointment, due to the fact that I learned that my ancestors were buried in a completely unmarked plot, I was pleasantly satisfied with my visit to the original section of this cemetery.  Calvary is the oldest African-American cemetery in Norfolk, and has several former slaves resting in its grounds.  I took several pictures and made a couple of recordings in that part of cemetery, and then just decided to ride around a bit more. It is a very large cemetery!

Just as I was about to leave, I encountered this massive brick structure with it's inscribed obelisk, so out of curiousity, I checked it out.   I thought this too interesting not to share, so here is my submission for Tombstone Tuesday.

The inscription on the monument reads:

Reverend William Lewis family vault:

Rev Lewis died Nov 12, 1882 aged ?8 years

Mary E Lewis died c 1886 aged 66 years

                                                              Husband and Wife

Tombstone Tuesday - Elizabeth T Neal Yarborough

One in a succession of owners of my great-grandfather, Calvin Yarborough.

(Thanks to Luckie at http://ourgeorgiaroots.com/?p=1022 for inspiring this post.)

Tombstone Tuesday

In honor of my father. I miss you, Daddy.