Thursday, April 16, 2009

Cemetery Touring

Anna and I just got back from a trip to Apalachicola, FL. It's really a beautiful area and I wish we had some more time to spend there. In addition to spending some time in town we got the opportunity to visit two historic cemeteries. Although none of our ancestors are buried in the cemeteries we had fun touring them.


The first cemetery was the Old St. Joseph Cemetery. Most of the graves in the old section (1835 - 1841) are unmarked graves of the many victims of the Yellow Fever epidemic that struck the area in 1841.




It's not known how many people are buried here but it is believed many of Florida's leaders including several members of the Florida Constitutional Convention rest here. Although there are not many headstones I found this beautiful black headstone on the other side of the cemetery.

The second graveyard we visited was the Chestnut Street Cemetery of Early Apalachicola (Old City Graveyard)

There were so many interesting stones there I didn't have time to take pictures of them all but here are two of my favorites:


The grave of George W. Core





















Transcription: George W. son of Rev. D.W. and Mrs. F. V. Core. Born Nov. 27, 1877 Died Mar. 1, 1902 A life so well spent on this earth cannot fail to reap a bountiful harvest in the one to come.

I loved this headstone because the whole stone is a stump of a tree and it has the seal of the Woodmen of the World on it.

The Grave of Catherina Spano






Transcription: Here rests the body of Catherina Spano Bor 17 May 1853 Died Oct 09 1900

I really loved this marker. It's obviously homemade and the shadow it reflects is really interesting.

No comments: