Johnna's Blog
GRAVE MATTERS
Johnna's Blog
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20 Sept 2009
Another adventurous day! I wanted to finish one of the cemeteries that I started a
couple of days ago, Goss Cemetery. I don't understand why I am having so much
trouble working on this one! I had photographed half of the headstones in the ceme-
tery the first day, but when I got home the camera wasn't working. Only half of the
photos that I took were even on the camera. Strange, considering that this is a
relatively new camera. I went back to the cemetery today, intent on finishing the
transcription. I took some photos (the camera was working fine!) and then started
working with my clipboard to transcribe the stones. It wasn't long before I noticed
gunshots nearby. Now, I wouldn't normally ignore gunshots, but I tend to get pretty
wrapped up in my cemeteries. It didn't take me long to realize that it wasn't an isolated
gunshot, but repeated shots. It dawned on me that I was out in the boonies, no one
knew where I had gone, and I might have stumbled onto the beginning of deer season
or something like that! Usually, this time of year, I try to make sure that I wear lots of
bright clothes if I am going out to work in the cemeteries. Today, I wasn't even paying
attention! I had on blue jeans and everything else was black. Not exactly an outfit that
says "Hey, I'm a person, not a deer!"
I did try to find info on the internet from my phone as to whether this was hunting
season or not, but no luck. Even called my nephew, thinking that he would be much
better informed than I, but still no info. Finally, I called it a day and went home, not
willing to try my luck any longer. Don't worry, I am headed back out there tomorrow
morning, although in a much more visible outfit. I intend to finish this cemetery before
the weekend is out, come hell or high water! The weather is far too beautiful to pass
up this opportunity.
Stay tuned!
Johnna
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19 Sept 2009
This week, the weather finally started cooperating with cemetery work! Thank God, I
have missed the cemeteries so much. Unfortunately, if it wasn't raining this summer, it
was sweltering hot. So now I am trying to catch up, hunting as many cemeteries in this
area while the weather is good. And it has definitely been good!
I live in Clay County, so I am trying to track down Clay County cemeteries, many of
which seem impossible. Not exactly a new problem, but one that can be frustrating. If
you are stuck on a county road behind a woman driving WAY under the speed limit,
searching the fields as she drives, you may be stuck behind me! Don't worry, I'll pull off
as soon as I can to let you pass, but in the meantime I am no doubt THIS close to finding
a long-lost cemetery.
I found one yesterday, although it was far from long-lost. It was wedged in between two
cookie-cutter houses in a new housing development, well maintained and yet there was still
trash strewn here and there. There was an absolutely beautiful stone in Thatcher Cemetery,
laying on the ground with several obvious breaks. It was well-carved, and every detail stood
out brilliantly. His name was Eleven Thatcher. How wonderful is that? There was also some
outstanding wrought-iron fencing in the cemetery. The saddest part was the overwhelming
number of fieldstones, broken stones, and deteriorated stones that could not be read.
Someday there may be a descendant looking for those people, and there is no one left to
point out the grave. That is why I think it is so very important to record every detail, no
matter how tiny the amount of recordable information. Maybe even a first name or a partial
date will be enough for someone to connect the stone with a person.
I will be uploading photos today of the cemeteries I transcribed this week. So far, I have
four done, so it has been a busy and productive few days. I would love to think that the
information will help someone eventually!
Johnna
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15 November 2007
It's almost Thanksgiving, so I want to take a moment to send out a
few thanks. I could probably make a long list, but I will keep it simple.
Thanks to Heritage Awards for Genealogical Websites for their November
Award for the website. We don't really apply for awards very often, but
Jane did apply for this one and they had so many wonderful things to say
about our work! Every now and then you need a little pat on the back, a
simple acknowledgement of the effort involved in this work, and their kind
words definitely gave us a smile.
Thanks to our families for the patience they exhibit every time we talk
about genealogy, everytime we discuss distant ancestors as though we had
just talked with them yesterday. Of course, we won't even mention all of
the times that we have dragged those family skeletons out of the closet and
right into the middle of the living room, whether you wanted to chat about it
or not....
Lastly, thanks so much for the thousands of people that find this website and
appreciate the hard work that went into it. Thanks to the people who send
emails, and the people who ask questions. You help to shape the future for
Look To The Past.
Johnna
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4 July 2005
Happy Fourth of July to everyone! It is hot and humid, and it really
needs to rain. The weather has kept us out of a lot of cemeteries
lately, but we should be able to be out taking pictures this week in
the mornings before the heat sets in.
I have a list of pictures I need to take for other people who can't
get to this area to visit their family graves. I love to do it,
although sometimes it can get to be a bit much. The cost of gas has
gone sky-high, and the heat tends to make me cranky. We don't charge
for the service, we just ask for a little patience if the cemetery is
out of our normal path. If you have a request, you can always email us!
Expenses seem to keep going up. We have started applying for grants
to help out, hopefully we can get some assistance with the costs
associated with running a website like this. When we started, our
mission was to provide free access to people who were looking for
actual records, not just gedcom files or links to pay websites. I have
nothing against the big sites like Ancestry or Genealogy.com, but you
can't even access the information that other people have donated to
them for FREE, unless you want to join and pay quite a bit. And we
won't even get into the subject of the fun associated with trying to
cancel them!
We wanted to avoid this issue, and get our research out where people
could use it. In the process, we met some wonderful people, and
started accumulating a larger collection of records than we would have
imagined possible in such a short time. We will not stop adding to the
site, we want it only to continue to grow and always remain free! The
biggest help right now with our work would be a laptop computer and
portable scanner, which is what we are working on grants for. We want
to be able to scan more pictures and document images onto the site, as
well as transcribe directly from source documents without paying the
huge amount we are currently paying for copy fees. Some libraries
charge 10 cents a page, others charge a dollar. Add that to gas and
other charges, and a research trip becomes a MAJOR expense. I do have
a full-time career to work around, as well as basic expenses. Oh, to
be independently wealthy!
If I won the lottery, I would pay researchers to get out and
transcribe every cemetery in the state, as well as photograph them and
get them online. I would go county by county, scanning and
transcribing every document a researcher might find useful. What
wouldn't I do to preserve our history!
Because of several emails I have received lately, as well as
suggestions from friends and family, I think the time has come to ask
for contributions. We are putting all of our resources into new
equipment and more web space, and we would love your help. If you have
found something useful on our site, or you want to offer help to a
fellow researcher, please consider a donation. Any amount would be a
godsend!
Thanks for any help you can offer, and if you have any information on
grants available, please email us. Thanks!
Johnna
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3 January 2005
Happy New Year! What a wonderful year it has been. We started this
website in mid-May, and in the past 7 1/2 months, we have had over
140,000 hits, many from countries I have never even heard of!
(Geography was never my strong suit.) We have added over 270 pages of
information, and almost 150 cemeteries transcribed. It is truly a
labor of love for Jane and I, as we research our own family histories
and help others find their information. We have had some awesome
breakthroughs this year, knocking down genealogical brickwalls we
thought we would never penetrate. I truly believe that what you put
out in the universe comes back to you, and the more info we add to our
website, the more information we have found.
We have had some truly entertaining adventures this year. We have had
to explain to sheriff's deputies why we were in a cemetery at night,
(it was a full moon and we were taking some amazing night photos!) we
have been chased out of a cemetery in full daylight by obnoxious
neighbors, we have even been told that the local historical societies
are vehemently opposed to what we are doing. I'm sure that they are
well-meaning people, but can't we find some compromise? There is no
need for the nasty emails, telling me to stop transcribing marriage
records or cemeteries, that if people want information they can
contact the historical society and buy the information from them. I
am all for funding the historical society, if they want to work on
cemetery restoration, or preservation of local landmarks. I would
happily volunteer my time and resources, if only we weren't on
their "Most Wanted" list! Perhaps we can find some middle
ground....preferrably with a headstone or two on it.
To those who have helped us in our research or transcriptions,
restoration work (you know who you are!) or even maps and directions,
you have our undying gratitude. This was a great year, and 2005 looks
even better. To those headstones I haven't found yet, sit tight, I'll
be there! (And shield yourself from the elements if possible...)
Thanks everyone, and a wonderful new year to each of you!
Johnna Quick
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18 October 2004
Recently we joined with a couple of friends from this area, to restore
an abandoned family cemetery. This cemetery was important at one time,
and contains many historically significant figures. The main family
in this cemetery were pioneer settlers and one of the founding fathers
of the area.
Common sense would dictate that people in the area would be interested
in preserving this landmark, or at the very least knowing that someone
was interested in caring for it. Not the case. In fact, two
individuals have taken the time to stop and demand to know why we
would be taking on such a project. Apparently, what is currently in a
state of decline should simply be abandoned to the continued ravages
of time and neglect. Nevermind that this pioneer is no doubt the
individual that originally settled the land that they now call their
home. Nevermind that one day, their mortal remains could face the
same abandonment, due to the changes in family situations and values
or simple lack of common respect. Instead, what these individuals
would apparently like us to do is walk away and turn our backs on our
past.
I would have to therefore assume that these individuals have not had
the privilege of reading our mission statement. Not only will we NOT
walk away from this project, we will invest our time, our sweat, and
even occasionally our blood (not always that handy with power tools)
in making sure that this is a sacred place that shows the reverance
that we have for our ancestors. We have no blood ties to these
individuals, or at least none that we are currently aware of. We do
this out of respect for history, we feel that this cemetery should
reflect the honor that this family deserves.
We hope that even though we have yet to find any descendants that are
willing to get involved in our project, whether it be an unwillingness
to offer time or funds, we do hope that eventually they will share our
enthusiasm for this beautiful place of rest.
On a special note, we would like to thank Brenda and John for inviting
us to get involved in this wonderful project. We hope that we can
continue working together not only on this cemetery, but the many more
that desperately need our help.
Jane and Johnna