I've been trying all weekend to find time to update the Adams Family Cemetery
page at
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/5881/AdamsFamilyCem.html .
It's been uploaded and you can go to that link to see the new pictures and to
get all the details about our workday at Adams Family Cemetery on Saturday,
April 15th.
We had a terrific turnout and simply beautiful weather to boot! A couple of
people who tried to be there couldn't make it, but we had quite a few
hard-working volunteers show up:
Stephen Franklin
Jeanne Burke (with her larnygitis)
Jack Briles and his grandson
Kathie Danner
We spent a couple of hours poking and probing the site. Jack was there
earlier in the week, probing and investigating the site. Of great assistance
was the East-West orientation line he flagged, which proved really helpful.
In probing the lower end of the cemetery, we learned there is a bed of gravel
or small rock about 12" down. Really had us going at first because we kept
hitting rock. Found nothing but gravel down there.
The west end of the cemetery, where there are a number of groundhog burrows,
did not prove fruitful and we found nothing but tree roots there, though Jack
did find a old piece of wagon hardware. The site was almost free of debris,
though we did find a few small bits of glass there. Nothing significant.
Near the center of the cemetery, there was one large stone lying on the
surface that we all saw, but we were suspicious of it because we were hoping
to find more "traditional" markers. However, upon prying the stone up from
the ground and closer examination, we believe that this large flat stone is,
in fact, a grave marker.
There are no other similar stones in the area. It does not "belong" there.
It has distinct vertical lines but no legible markings or carving. It could
not appear there at the high point in the cemetery without human intervention.
Some might think that the stone was tossed there at some point during the
clearing of the adjacent fields but, if that were the case, why are there no
other similar stones there? We genuinely believe this stone is, in fact, a
grave marker.
The grave marker was found on the west side of a row of depressions which runs
from East to West. There may also be another row of depressions behind this
row. They are all on the high ground of the cemetery and near the center.
This seemed like a perfect opportunity to experiment with grave dowsing.
Kathie Danner found a coat hanger in her car and Stephen Franklin was able to
craft rudimentary dowsing rods from it. Whether you believe in grave dowsing
or not, after 4 of us tried walking along the suspected row of unmarked
graves, it was patently obvious that something was happening to the rods as we
walked. We found this very interesting and, though hits with dowsing rods
could not be considered "empirical" proof of the graves' existence, we took
it
to confirm our pre-existing theories about the location of graves here.
After several hours of probing the site, we determined that, if there are
stones buried here, we may never find them.
The lone stone marker was uprighted at the head of the grave depression where
it was found. (See photo on the updated webpage.) Perhaps it can be
permanently installed there at a later date.
Whether or not stones are found here, we hope to see a fence constructed here
to clearly establish the boundaries of the cemetery property as a high-density
subdivision/mini-warehouse development is planned for the surrounding real
estate.
Hope this suffices as a report on our workday at Adams Family Cemetery.
Though I was disappointed not to find additional grave stones or markers, I
think we had a productive day and I genuinely want to thank everyone who
participated.
I hope to deliver a written report to the Church Board later this week and I
will advise as to what they intend to do next.
Lois