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Thousands of Headstones are Sinking into the Ground
More and more cemeteries are going with flat-to-the ground headstones. They are more economical to create and it’s easier to maintain the landscaping around them. But they sink into the soil beneath them. And grass grows over them. And the names are lost to us, sometimes forever. Every fall when we visit the…
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Buried Here But Not; How I Played Hide and Seek on Find A Grave
This year I took over 100 headstone photos in a cemetery where they weren’t. Confused? So was I! I drove through the gates of Memory Gardens Cemetery in the wee hours of May 24th. It was misting and I was rushed knowing the sky would soon give in to the threatening rain.…
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1912 Obituaries: November 29
From page 22 of the Chicago Daily News November 29, 1912; “ANDERSON-Wm. C., aged 76 years, Nov. 2, 1912, beloved husband of Elizabeth Anderson. Funeral from late residence, 2442 N. Kimball-av., Sunday, Dec. 1, at 12:30 p.m., to St. Paul’s Lutheran church, 2215 W. North-av., at 1:30 p.m., thence by…
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Wanted – Married Couples
Tri-State Employment Co. posted the following advertisement in the classifieds section of the Minneapolis Journal on December 4, 1915: WANTED – MARRIED COUPLES “We have jobs at Dupree, N.D., Kilkenny, Minn., Cambridge, Minn., Cartio [sic], N.D., Roberts, Wis., Lanesboro, Minn., Benford, N.D., Bloomington Ferry, Minn. and Wilton, N.D., where they…
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Guardian Angel
When I visited St. Luke Cemetery in Chicago this past spring I was focused on young Herold Mueller and his headstone. It wasn’t until later that I noticed the angel nearby who was keeping watch over him. Herold’s picture is in an oval frame on his headstone. The German phrase hier…
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1912 Obituaries: November 21
From page 21 of the November 21, 1912 issue of the Chicago Daily News; “ACKLEY-Patrick, beloved husband of Margaret Ackley and father of Mrs. Robert Rogers and David J., Frank P., Anna T. and Margaret R. Ackley. Funeral from late residence, 1924 Washington-bd., to St. Jarlath’s church, where requiem high…
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Not Far from the Tree
Styled after tree trunks and cut branches, the individual headstones of the Evans’ family are grouped around a large tree marker. The broken branches on the large headstone symbolize a life cut short.
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Milestone in the Cemetery
I smiled as I took this picture for Find A Grace, imagining the conversation that may have taken place. “Is that really what you want on your headstone Mom?” Apparently Jewell’s wish came to fruition. Her milestone can be seen in Chicago’s Irving Park Cemetery:
Join me as I search for ancestors in England, Germany, France, Isle of Man, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the USA.
