Friday, July 02, 2010
Tombstone Tuesday: Walter and Betsy Cronkite - Follow Up
Saturday, April 03, 2010
Walter and Betsy Cronkite
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Tombstone Tuesday: Marble Masonic Mausoleum at Mt Moriah Cemetery
The cemetery includes several Masonic features, including a massive marble mausoleum.

The mausoleum has two levels. At the entrance, on the second level is the Temple meeting room.
Grand Master seat in Temple meeting room.
The Lodge room contains many symbols and features reprentative of the Shriners, Masons, Scottish Rite, and Eastern Star. The meeting room is topped by a stepped pyramid ceiling with a skylight that is not visible externally from the ground.
Large and small ornate burial chambers predominate the Mausoleum.See more in this quick flickr picture show: http://bit.ly/Qty8f
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Tombstone Tuesday: Humorous Marker For John A England
John A. England
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
BlackSheep Sunday: The Horse Thief
When a horse thief was hanged where captured, they were often placed in an unmarked grave nearby, but when the thief was hanged in town they were normally buried in the local cemetery. Many times they were unmarked, with no one willing to order and pay for a permanent marker, and sometimes they had a temporary marker.
This particular horse thief was marked much later. While his name was unknown, his deed is remembered forever.
Sunday, June 07, 2009
BlackSheep Sunday: Jesse Woodson James and Family
Jesse has certainly not been left alone to rest in peace after death. Jesse was originally interred on the family farm in Clay County, Mo. For many years Frank James earned money by giving tours of the family farm and graveyard. Years later the family cemetery was moved to Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Kearney and the Clay Co Historical Society now provides tours of the James family farm.
After James was moved to Mt. Olivet, he was disinterred two more times to try to prove the person interred was actually James. The final disinterment resulted in DNA testing.
Jesse W
Born Sept.5, 1847
Assassinated
April 3, 1882
Zerelda
Born July 21, 1845
Died Nov. 13, 1900
Confederate Military Stone
Jesse W James
Taylor's SQ
Quantrell's
Regt
CSA
Sep 5 1847
Apr 2 1882
Jan. 29, 1825
Feb. 10, 1911
(mother of Jesse James)
Jan. 12, 1829
Mar. 1, 1908
"At Rest"
(Jesse's mother's last husband)
Born July 26. 1866
Killed by a Bomb
Jan. 26,1875
(son of Reuben and Zerelda)
Sunday, May 31, 2009
BlackSheep Sunday: Frank, brother of Jesse James
Alexander F.
1843 - 1915
Ann Ralston
1853 - 1944
Sunday, May 24, 2009
BlackSheep Sunday: Clell Miller, Notorious Outlaw
Clell was killed in a bank robbery in Northfield, MN, at the age of 26, and is interred in Muddy Fork Cemetery near Kearney in Clay County, MO. Clell is listed on the family stone and a new military stone has been added with Southern Cross of Honor and Quantrill's name misspelled.
Sept. 7, 1876
Aged
26 Yrs. 8 Ms.
& 22 Ds.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Wordless Wednesday: CSA Week: John L. Holder
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Tombstone Tuesday: CSA Week: Confederate in Kansas
Monday, May 18, 2009
CSA Week: Confederate Memorial Cemetery
A peaceful place to rest.
View of the Confederate Memorial from the entrance.
The Confederate Memorial, dated 1906.
A small view of a large cemetery.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
BlackSheep Sunday: Bob Ford, The Man Who Shot Jesse James
History records that Bob Ford was born in 1862 near Richmond, in Ray County, MO. His grave marker, however, records his birth as 20 years earlier. Ford's last days were spent in Creede, Colorado, where he was gunned down by Edward O. Kelley and interred. Years later Bob's remains were removed to Richmond, MO, where he remains today.
Bob Ford
Dec. 8, 1841 - June 8, 1892
The Man Who Shot Jesse James
Richmond City Cemetery
Richmond, Ray County, MO
Sponsored by the International Black Sheep Society of Genealogists.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
BlackSheep Sunday: The Younger Gang
Lee's Summit Historic Cemetery
291 Hwy and SE 3rd St.
Lee's Summit, Jackson Co., MO
Captain
Capt.
Quantrill's Co.
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Wordless Wednesday: Links to the Past
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Tombstone Tuesday: And Time Marches On
The Civil War section of the cemetery features a Civil War Memorial with the American Flag, and the soldiers laid out in two rows behind the memorial and bring images of the Kansas Infantry to mind.
In this normal look at the Memorial at the head of the section we can see it bears the message Rest Soldier Rest on the orb. The rectangular area directly beneath the orb is inscribed with a flag, above which reads The Flag They Fought For. The remainder of the message reads To the Memory Of // Our Unknown Dead. // They Sleep // On Southern Battlefields // And ‘Neath The Ocean Waves. The base acknowledges the donors as General Curtis Relief Corps. No. 29 // Dedicated May 30, 1897.
Many of the graves are marked with their original GAR Post stars and remind us of our old soldiers finally at ease.
The soldiers remain in their ranks for all time, marked by their marble Union tablets and armed with their badges of honor.
A Patriot at Rest
And Time Marches On
I hope you enjoyed this different view of this Civil War Memorial. These photos are digital IR and were shot using an infrared filter on the camera. This is the view a scorpion or a snake might have of the cemetery.
See more of Spring Hill cemetery including photo-index at the Ditigal Cemetery.
Leave me a message and let me know what you think!
Monday, April 06, 2009
Tombstone Tuesday: Sibley Cemetery at Ft. Osage
The site for Fort Osage was recommended by Lewis and Clark on their early expedition along the Missouri River, and was later built under the direction of Clark at what is now Sibley, Jackson County, Missouri. The cemetery, located a short distance from the Fort, is one of the earliest cemeteries in this part of Missouri. It was used by the Fort for military personnel as well as by the civilians in the community that grew up around it.

The cemetery can be categorized as a "Customary" cemetery. The cemetery was not originally planned or platted. When the need occurred, individuals chose a spot and took care of their own, and as a result, while the graves are oriented eastward and are in family groupings, there is no real order to the cemetery.
As was common for the military, the soldiers were placed in unmarked mass graves. With no stone carvers available in the area, it is likely many of the earliest settler graves were not markedwith a gravestone. Many were likely marked with a stone, wooden cross, tree or other planting, or flowers. Those with some means would have had to mail order a stone, likely from the St. Louis area.
One of my favorite early markers at this cemetery is this marble scroll-top child's marker. The marker sits on a concrete base and features a lamb, a common symbol of innocence and youth usually associated with babies and small children.Reading the inscription (below) we find this marker is, in fact, for a small child. As settlers new to the area, the surviving parents also felt it important to let those that follow know that this child was born in Utica, Mississippi, only two short years earlier.
Anna,
Daughter of
J.A. & A.E.Hollis
Born at Utica, Miss.
Aug. 5, 1854
Died Aug. 17, 1856
Tour Ft. Osage and Sibley Cemetery on Flickr: http://tinyurl.com/dbkv8r Click Show Info to see captions.
See the Digital Cemetery for more about Sibley Cemetery.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Unusual Monument Year Notation
Born Feb 9, E. M. 344
Died May 19, E. M. 409
Find Bartlett and more on the Digital Cemetery at http://cemetery.cottonhills.com/

