Eric, this piece was fascinating!!! I felt like I was on this ancestral journey right along with you and so many thoughts bubbled up as I read. I love how you said you like to imagine Wiley was a noble character, not knowing whether he was part of the atrocities of the south in those days. What I love the most is that you've captured this event with your kids in the unfortunate event that LOT 9 ceases to exist someday. What a memory and legacy this is. Sad to think that it would mean nothing to a developer.
Thanks Kristi! Finding it again after all of this time was really profound!
My wife is a real estate title examiner and she's the one who found the plat for the subdivision. You can see on the map that there is an access easement to get to the cemetery around the edge of lot 9. Unfortunately, that isn't in writing on the property deed. We emailed the subdivision developer for more info, but haven't gotten a response.
Impermanence it is, including those incredibly lovely photos at the end.
Both my parents are buried in a family cemetery in rural Louisiana, which I would have trouble locating without a map or other help. Amazing how quickly the generations come and go. I enjoyed your writing too
Thanks Earlene! Sounds like you could have a similar adventure of your own to Louisiana one day. The older I get, the more I become aware of the impermanence, the transient nature of things, the constant change. Its sad in some respects, but also poignantly beautiful.
Great story Erik. It is always good to reflect on the lives of our family members who came before us - how different their life would have been, how similar.
This was a fascinating piece! I’ve had a similar experience as a young person going far into the country in south-western Virginia to visit a similar family cemetery up on a mountain ridge, of my great-great’s (which also dates back to the Civil War). The old family farm up on the Ridge was divided up among the family members many years ago, and eventually a small piece came to belong to my parents … who then offered it to me. So I now own a small sliver of mostly useless property, just off a major highway, on the complete opposite side of the country from where I now live. We pay a small amount of property taxes on it every year and in this way I cling to a tiny piece of my heritage and my ancestor’s old family property. Your experience which you shared was very relevant! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Amy! I actually have a different situation similar to yours. A slightly different branch of my family tree all had land centered around my great grandmother's farmhouse. This was about 1 1/2 hours south of the cemetery in this piece. At some point when I was a baby my grandfather gave me 20 acres nearby. But, all of the rest of the family died or moved away. I had that land until I was a teenager, when my dad finally sold it.
It is a topic that is near and dear to my own heart. I am the "family historian" by default. My grandmother wrote a "book" c.1976 and self-published (more like a large pamphlet) for all her kin, which as an Irish Catholic family, is substantial. I inherited the family portraits as no one else wanted them. Indeed, my aunt drove around for 5 years with them in her trunk back in the early 80's. I have had them in my possession since the early 1990's and proudly display them in my stairwell. I have labeled them and added to them, just like you, from online sources. I have also found relatives, included a long lost and mistakenly thought dead, half-brother to my husband. And a half-sister that he knew nothing about, although his older brother did. Go figure.
Couple of points. I would recommend doing some research through Findagrave or your local cemetery association to determine what can be done about restoring some of those stones. Let me just say, they are important. Someone went to the trouble to make a headstone, place it at no small expense. The least we can do, especially as direct descendants, is honor it with a little maintenance. One simple thing you can do is run out there with a spray bottle (think garden pump sprayer not small household sprayer) with Wet and Forget. Literally, you spray it and walk away. Nature will take care of the rest. It is used by the Daughters of the Revolution or DAR for this purpose. There are other products and methods. But it has worked for me.
It was a shocker for sure! But we've had a chance to get together and meet. And pictures! I do so love pictures. So much history lost to apathy and negligence and "busy lives".
It was very cool you took your kids there. Go back soon, bring trimmers and Wet and Forget. Do rubbings of the stones(don't worry, it will not hurt the headstone despite what some say). Have a picnic. Did you know that used to be a Victorian past time? Picnic in the cemetery.
Many thanks for sharing such a thoughtful piece. ‘Impermanence’ is definitely the takeaway. Most people are forgotten within a couple of generations.
Yes, that is very true. But, maybe one good thing the internet has done is help preserve some of that history that would otherwise be lost.
Definitely. It has definitely opened a window to the past that would otherwise be lost.
Eric, this piece was fascinating!!! I felt like I was on this ancestral journey right along with you and so many thoughts bubbled up as I read. I love how you said you like to imagine Wiley was a noble character, not knowing whether he was part of the atrocities of the south in those days. What I love the most is that you've captured this event with your kids in the unfortunate event that LOT 9 ceases to exist someday. What a memory and legacy this is. Sad to think that it would mean nothing to a developer.
Thanks Kristi! Finding it again after all of this time was really profound!
My wife is a real estate title examiner and she's the one who found the plat for the subdivision. You can see on the map that there is an access easement to get to the cemetery around the edge of lot 9. Unfortunately, that isn't in writing on the property deed. We emailed the subdivision developer for more info, but haven't gotten a response.
So fascinating. I think the Hogan family at large should do a GoFundMe to raise money and but it 😁
Haha! That would be great! There aren't many of us left, though, at least on my specific branch. Just me and my sister and my kids.
Oops, I meant BUY it. Stupid phone 😁 I suppose you understood lol
I didn't even notice till now! 🤣
I love visiting the cemeteries where my forebears rest.
It's a rare experience for me but wow did it have an impact!
Impermanence it is, including those incredibly lovely photos at the end.
Both my parents are buried in a family cemetery in rural Louisiana, which I would have trouble locating without a map or other help. Amazing how quickly the generations come and go. I enjoyed your writing too
Thanks Earlene! Sounds like you could have a similar adventure of your own to Louisiana one day. The older I get, the more I become aware of the impermanence, the transient nature of things, the constant change. Its sad in some respects, but also poignantly beautiful.
Impermanence, ancestors, the creep of civilization ... it's all there, in this piece. Nice, Erik! Thanks for taking us along.
Thanks for reading Jeanne, this was quite interesting to write about!
Great story Erik. It is always good to reflect on the lives of our family members who came before us - how different their life would have been, how similar.
This was a fascinating piece! I’ve had a similar experience as a young person going far into the country in south-western Virginia to visit a similar family cemetery up on a mountain ridge, of my great-great’s (which also dates back to the Civil War). The old family farm up on the Ridge was divided up among the family members many years ago, and eventually a small piece came to belong to my parents … who then offered it to me. So I now own a small sliver of mostly useless property, just off a major highway, on the complete opposite side of the country from where I now live. We pay a small amount of property taxes on it every year and in this way I cling to a tiny piece of my heritage and my ancestor’s old family property. Your experience which you shared was very relevant! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Amy! I actually have a different situation similar to yours. A slightly different branch of my family tree all had land centered around my great grandmother's farmhouse. This was about 1 1/2 hours south of the cemetery in this piece. At some point when I was a baby my grandfather gave me 20 acres nearby. But, all of the rest of the family died or moved away. I had that land until I was a teenager, when my dad finally sold it.
EXCELLENT piece Mr. Hogan. Truly well written.
It is a topic that is near and dear to my own heart. I am the "family historian" by default. My grandmother wrote a "book" c.1976 and self-published (more like a large pamphlet) for all her kin, which as an Irish Catholic family, is substantial. I inherited the family portraits as no one else wanted them. Indeed, my aunt drove around for 5 years with them in her trunk back in the early 80's. I have had them in my possession since the early 1990's and proudly display them in my stairwell. I have labeled them and added to them, just like you, from online sources. I have also found relatives, included a long lost and mistakenly thought dead, half-brother to my husband. And a half-sister that he knew nothing about, although his older brother did. Go figure.
Couple of points. I would recommend doing some research through Findagrave or your local cemetery association to determine what can be done about restoring some of those stones. Let me just say, they are important. Someone went to the trouble to make a headstone, place it at no small expense. The least we can do, especially as direct descendants, is honor it with a little maintenance. One simple thing you can do is run out there with a spray bottle (think garden pump sprayer not small household sprayer) with Wet and Forget. Literally, you spray it and walk away. Nature will take care of the rest. It is used by the Daughters of the Revolution or DAR for this purpose. There are other products and methods. But it has worked for me.
I'll look into the Wet and Forget. Thanks! I can't even imagine finding a half brother/sister I didn't know about. Wow!!
It was a shocker for sure! But we've had a chance to get together and meet. And pictures! I do so love pictures. So much history lost to apathy and negligence and "busy lives".
It was very cool you took your kids there. Go back soon, bring trimmers and Wet and Forget. Do rubbings of the stones(don't worry, it will not hurt the headstone despite what some say). Have a picnic. Did you know that used to be a Victorian past time? Picnic in the cemetery.
And write more, you are a really talented writer.
I really appreciate that! Thank you!