MERRY CHRISTMAS!

MAY YOU HAVE A NEW YEAR

FILLED WITH GOOD HEALTH,

HAPPINESS & PROSPERITY.

Contacting A Cemetery Office

Cemetery offices can be busy places at times and often the staff is small. They get a lot of people visiting and looking for graves. To save yourself some time, and the office staff some stress, write well in advance of your visit.

The following suggestions may help you get a response more quickly:

Always enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope for your reply.

Request a cemetery map with the location of each plot marked on it. This will help you find the graves you are seeking more quickly.

Limit your request to just a few grave locations. It is time consuming for the staff to look up the information and then mark it on a map. If you are requesting quite a number of lookups, allow more time to receive a response.

Give them the name you are looking for as well as the date of birth and death, and any other information you can provide that will help distinquish one person from another (such as a spouse, parent, or sibling's name). This is really important if you are researching a common name or there is more than one family member with the same name.

Not all graves are marked. Be sure to ask if there is a stone or marker on the grave. This just might save you a trip, if all you want is a photograph of the stone.

Try to visit the cemetery when the office is open in case you have trouble finding a grave and need more help.

And always write a Thank You to the person who sent you the information.

Laurel Hill Memorial Gardens, Lancaster Co., PA

Laurel Hill Memorial Gardens is located off 9th Street, just north of Route 30, in Columbia, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

As I was leaving the cemetery several grave stones caught my eye and I just had to stop and take pictures.




Mother, Grandmother
LOWE
Margaret Rebecca
11/23/45 - 8/12/06

"Our Guardian Angel"






VALENTINE
Together Forever
Married July 20, 1958

John G.
Mar. 21, 1932
Dec. 17, 2000

Shirley L. (Widener)
Jun. 14, 1932, May 7, 2005

1915 Minnie P. Widener 2003

OBETZ

Jere L.
January 24, 1949
April 25, 2007

Barbara A.
November 8, 1960
[no death date]

WAKEFIELD

George A.
Nov. 27, 1944
[no death date]

Gloria J.
May 25, 1946
Jan. 22, 2000

Click on the pictures to get a larger view, especially the Wakefield stone.

Old DuQuoin Cemetery, Perry County, Illinois

WOODSIDES
Charles E.
Mar. 3, 1928 Jan. 20, 1991

Doris L.
Dec. 2, 1929 Nov. 21, 1999


WOODSIDES
Carl R.
Oct. 4, 1907 Apr. 20, 1986

Cora E.
Feb. 11, 1906 Aug. 30, 1980

Hill Prairie Cemetery, Sparta, Randolph County, Illinois

Mary H. wife of R. T. Lyons
Died Aug. 30, 1876
Aged 24 Yrs. 10 Mo. 12 D.

[Note: Mary Harper Cathcart Lyons was the wife of Robert Thomas Lyons]







Cora May, Adopted Dau. of
S. W. & S. M. Patterson
Died Apr 8, 1882
Aged 6 Yrs, 1 Mo. 2 D.









Infant Son of
S. W. & S. M. Patterson
Born Jan. 19, 1869

(death date unknown)








Many thanks to Lucy Higgins for taking the above photos.

Susquehanna Memorial Gardens, York, Pennsylvania

Susquehanna Memorial Gardens is located on Chestnut Hill Road in York County, Pennsylvania. This photo is of the entrance to the cemetery.

The first 2 stones below are found in the John the Baptist section of the cemetery. The third is in the Solitary Life section.


This stone is for
Larry D. May
1943 - 2007

There is also a place reserved for his wife, Dawn Marea with the year of birth 1946


This is a combined gravestone:
Feltenberger
Edward C. 1914 - 1975
Velma M. 1914 - 2001


Sadly Missed By All

Daniel S. Grimm
1986 - 2003





The persons above were not related to me. I took the photos for other people. For more information visit their listings at findagrave.com

Brig. Gen. Wm. C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery, New Jersey

The Brigadier General William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery is located at 350 Provence Line Road, Wrightstown, Burlington County, New Jersey.



Preston Jess Keeler, Jr.
AOMI U.S. Navy
Aug. 31, 1920 - Feb. 26, 2005
Betty Jane, his wife
May 13, 1923 - Oct. 2, 1993

[Betty Jane was the daughter of Orla Henry Bohannan and Mabel Stewart (Dougan) Bohannan]

Allen C. Pearlman
PVT U.S. Army
Mar. 22, 1914 - Mar. 27, 1991
Frances M., his wife
Nov. 9, 1917 - Jun 14, 2003

Memorial Park Cemetery, St. Petersburg, Florida

Caroline M. Bauld
July 11, 1870
May 9, 1957

[Note: Full name is Caroline Matilda (Trout) Bauld. She was born in Buffalo, New York, and was the widow of Charles Bauld of New York]

BAULD
Charles O. 1901 - 1969
Pearl L. 1908 - 1990

[Note: Charles O. Bauld was the son of Caroline. Pearl's full name was Pearl Lillian (Woodside) Bauld, daughter of William J. and Lillie Barber (Samcoe) Woodside. Both Charles and Pearl were born in Buffalo, New York.]


Memorial Park Cemetery is located in Pinellas County, Florida. These photos were taken by Robin Yellen.

Sugar Grove Cumberland Presbyterian Cemetery, Marion, Kentucky

WOODSIDE
J. Preston 1907 - 1973

Winnie 1905 - 1981

[Note: Joseph Preston Woodside was the son of James L. & Doris (Travis) Woodside]


Mother
Sarah Alice COLEMAN
1904 - 1985

[Note: Sarah Alice was the daughter of James L. & Doris (Travis) Woodside]

These photos were taken by Gene Hunter.

Laurel Grove Cemetery, Florida

The following photos for my Pettit ancestors are located at the Laurel Grove Cemetery, Waldo, Alachua County, Florida.

This stone is for Henry Newton Pettit, Jr. son of Henry Newton & Elizabeth (Heard)Pettit. It reads:

H.N. Pettit
Born at Kaskaskia, Ill.
Aug. 29, 1822
Died
July 13, 1893(83?)

This stone is for the son of Henry Newton Pettit, Jr. & Louisa (Conant) Pettit. It reads:

Father
Nathan Conant Pettit
Jan. 12 1846
Nov. 9, 1926
Co. K, 5 Ill. Cav.


This is the wife of Nathan.

Tammie, Wife of
N. C. Pettit
Born July 19, 1856
Died Aug. 10, 1895

(dates are a little hard to read)





Daughter of
Nathan Conant Pettit and
Tammie Doane Pettit

Effie Doane Pettit
Mar. 16, 1887
Dec. 4, 1969



Alberta
Daughter of
N.C. & T. L. Pettit
Born Sep. 4, 1892
Died Dec. 15, 1893




These photos were taken by Bill DeSha. He has a great military writeup on Nathan Conant Pettit at findagrave.com

Funny Tombstone Inscriptions

Under the sod and under the trees,
lies the body of Jonathan Pease.
He is not here, there's only the pod.
Pease shelled out and went to God.

Reader, if cash thou art in want of any,
dig six feet deep and thou wilt find a Penny.

Here lies Johnny Yeast.
Pardon me for not rising.

Here lies an Atheist,
all dressed up and no place to go.

Looked up the elevator shaft to see if the
car was on the way down. It was.

Beverly National Cemetery, Burlington County, New Jersey

Henry Daniel O'Rourke
New Jersey
Major, US Army
World War I

July 15, 1878
November 30, 1958






Isabella
Oct. 31, 1887
Nov. 25, 1976
Wife of
Maj H. D. O'Rourke
USA

[Isabella was the daughter of David Marshall and Jane McGillivray, and sister of Jennie Marshall Letton]


These photos were taken for me by Find A Grave volunteer Arline aka Historical Passion.

La Verne Cemetery (continued)

Carrie Ann Moore
1902 - 1926
In Loving Memory

[Carrie Ann (Woodside) Moore was the wife of Sherman Alfred Moore, and the daughter of John Wiseman Woodside and Ophelia Emma (McEuen) Woodside.]

WRIGHT
Sidney B., 1900 - 1965
Mamie E., 1901 - 1971

[Mamie Evelyn (Woodside) Wright was the daughter of John Wiseman Woodside and Ophelia Emma (McEuen) Woodside.]

In Memory of
William H. Webster
1896 - 1928

[William Webster was the third husband of Mamie Evelyn Woodside.]

Milton R. Woodside
1914 - 1937

[Milton Robert Woodside was the son of John Wiseman Woodside and Ophelia Emma (McEuen) Woodside.]

La Verne Cemetery, Los Angeles County, California

The following gravestones for some of my Woodside ancestors, who are buried in the La Verne Cemetery, Los Angeles County, California, were taken by Meredith Bailey. You can see more of Meredith's photos from the La Verne Cemetery at findagrave.com.

This gravestone is for Elizabeth Jane (Hunt) Woodside, wife of Ephriam Milton Woodside, and is engraved:

Mother, Elizabeth J. Woodside
1848 - 1928
In Loving memory

John W. Woodside
1874 - 1942

[This is John Wiseman Woodside, son of Emphriam Milton Woodside and Elizabeth Jane (Hunt) Woodside.]


This stone has two memorials engraved on it:

Ophelia E. Woodside
1876 - 1953

Alberta Shafer
1917 - 1990

[Ophelia Emma (McEuen) Woodside was the wife of John Wiseman Woodside. Alberta Emma (Woodside) Shafer was the daughter of John Wiseman and Ophelia Woodside, and the wife of Russell Donald Shafer.]

Beloved Mother
Dixie Imbler
1898 - 1980

[Dixie Ophelia (Woodside) Imbler was the daughter of John Wiseman and Ophelia Woodside, and the wife of Ray Imbler.

Evergreen Memorial Park Cemetery, Riverside, California

The following gravestones are for persons connected to my Pettit line, and are at the Evergreen Memorial Park Cemetery, 4414 14th Street, Riverside, California.

This stone is for Henry Pettit Valentine, son of Nathaniel D. and Bennetta (Pettit) Valentine:

Henry P. Valentine
1872 - 1954



This stone is for Winnie P. (Stoliker) Valentine, wife of Henry P.

Beloved Mother
Winnie P. Valentine
1879 - 1972



Elizabeth B.Valentine
1906 - 1967

(This is the daughter of Henry P. and Winnie P. Valentine)




This stone is for the parents of Winnie P. Valentine:

James Stoliker
1855 - 1883
Elizabeth Stoliker
1857 - 1934

Pioneer Memorial Cemetery, San Bernardino, California

Pioneer Memorial Cemetery is located at 211 E 9th Street, San Bernardino, California. The following Pettit family photographs were taken by Barbara LeClaire and can be found at the Find A Grave website along with many other photos she has taken.

This gravestone is for James Heard Pettit, son of Henry Newton Pettit and Elizabeth (Heard)Pettit. It reads:

J. H. Pettit
Born Feb. 18, 1819
Died Feb. 6, 1884





This appears to be the reverse side of above stone and is for Jane (Bilderback) Pettit, wife of James Heard Pettit.

Jane Pettit
Born Nov. 27, 1823
Died Apr. 9, 1907





This stone is for the daughter of James Heard and Jane Pettit. It reads:

Mother
Benetta Valentine
1849 - 1927

This stone is for Joanna B. Valentine, daughter of Benetta and Nathaniel D. Valentine:

Wife
Joanna B. Readman
1881 - 1935

Funny Tombstone Inscriptions

Here lies the body of Jonathan Blake.
Stepped on the gas instead of the brake.


Here lies Ann Mann
who lived an old maid
but died an old Mann.
December 8, 1767


As I am now, you soon shall be.
Prepare for death and follow me.
Scribbled below: To follow you I'm not content
Until I know which way you went.


Here lies the body of our Anna,
Done to death by a banana.
It wasn't the fruit that laid her low,
But the skin of the thing that made her go.


Here lies Lester Moore
Four slugs from a 44
No Les
No more

Hill Prairie Cemetery (continued)

More Lyons family grave stone photos taken by Rodney Erps.

On front of stone:
George Lyons
Apr. 9, 1809
Mar. 18, 1864

On back of stone:
Mary
Wife of
George Lyons
July 12, 1823
June 1, 1891

Priscilla
Died Aug. 11, 1861
3 Yrs. 5 mo. 16 ds.

Mary P.
Died Nov. 28, 1862
Aged __ Months

(Note: age for Mary P. is blocked by a flower)




LYONS
Margaret Elder
Sept. 4, 1853
Feb. 16, 1944

Hill Prairie Cemetery (Continued)

The following photos on the Lyons family were taken by Rodney Erps, a volunteer at findagrave.com.

This stone is for Robert William Lyons, and reads:

R. W. Lyons
Born Sep. 1817
Died Aug. 9, 1900

"that they may rest from their labour and their works do follow them." Rev. 14.13


The reverse side of the stone is for his second wife, Mary:

Mary A. Kinkead
Wife of R. W. Lyons
Died June 11, 1886
Aged 65 Years

"Blessed are the dead, that die in the Lord". Rev. 14.13



Infant
Dau. of R. W. & M. A. Lyons
Died Oct. 14, 1856

(Note: 11 days old)

Hill Prairie Cemetery, Randolph County, Illinois

Jane
Wife of R. W. Lyons
Died
Feb. 17, 1850
Aged 17 yrs. 6 ms. 7 ds.

(Note: Jane's maiden name is Little. She is the first wife of R. W. Lyons)




George E.
Son of
R. W. & M. A. Lyons
Died
Nov. 1, 1857
Aged 3 yrs. 1 mo.






Thanks to Lucy Higgins for taking these great photos.