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| Image from Findagrave.com courtesy Jan Hensley |
This field stone, “engraved” in a rather
rough hand, reads
Mary P.
Rucker
Died 25 of
Sep. 1871
80 years
Mary Jarrell Rucker was my third
great-grandmother. She is buried in her
son-in-law’s family cemetery in Sandy Bottom, Rockingham County, Virginia,
located just outside the Skyline Drive. The
Asa Baugher Cemetery is in a field, so not surprisingly cows have scattered the
stones all over the place.
©
2014, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.
That's interesting. I've never seen a grave marker like this before. And I guess since things have been scattered, there's no real telling who is where. hmmm After all this time, I suppose that's probably no such a big issue though...but then again...
ReplyDeleteYeah, I guess you could stand in the field and just KNOW your ancestor is there. The stone was probably just a rock. It's certainly not a genuine tombstone.
DeleteWow, that's an old stone! I've never seen one like that either.
ReplyDeleteSince someone managed to just scratch through the rock, you're not likely to see another one like it. It's not a "real" tombstone like we ordinarily think of.
DeleteInteresting photograph. I presume they used the stones that were lying in the fields. I think it is quite poetic that the cows use the same field and scatter the stones.
ReplyDeleteIt does sound like something Wordsworth or Browning would have written about.
DeleteOh wow! My first reaction on seeing this was a bit of sadness because of the rustic nature of this grave marker. It's just a stone in a field. But somehow this is also sweet. Perhaps this rustic grave marker was the best they could do at the time to honor their loved one.
ReplyDeleteNo doubt it was the best they could do. I wonder what kind of tool they used to scratch through the rock. It's amazing to me that it's still readable 142 years later. I've seen newer tombstones that aren't as easy to decipher.
DeleteThat is an old headstone! My Mom and Aunties have made some out of concrete for those headstones that have been lost or destroyed for some of our ancestors.
ReplyDeleteKathy M.