Two Mysteries

Vans Valley Cemetery

I spend alot of time in the Galena / Sunbury area in Delaware County. On the northwest corner of  County Rd. 605 at the intersection of St. Rt 37 there is a small rise near the edge of a farmer's field. There are only 6 markers for the Lewis family in what is known as Vans Valley Cemetery. I lived less than 4 miles from this intersection for 20 years and never even noticed the markers. Granted they might not have been visible until recently. From what I understand, for many years the area was very overgrown and uncared for. Only within the last few years had the township cleared the land and repaired the headstones. I only knew about this cemetery because it was listed on FindAGrave. Once I knew it was there, I always looked at it as I drove by, thinking that one day I would stop and take some pictures. Unfortunately it is on private property, so "just stopping by" could be seen as trespassing. I would first need to get permission from someone, but I had no idea who to ask. Well, last time I was in the area, I had some extra time on my hands and it was a nice day, so I decided to stop.
I was a little frustrated because at the first two houses I tried no one was home. At the third house, on the other hand, before I even turned my car off, there was an elderly gentleman at the door. He informed me that he had owned the property for many years and that it now belonged to his brother who lived in Columbus. He gave me permission to go and take as many photos as I would like. I got the feeling that he may have been a descendant of the Lewises, but he never said so.

Four of the six headstones were legible, but for 2 there were only crosses. A little bit of research led me to believe that one is the marker for Robert Jr; as the cross is between Robert Sr and Rebecca (wife of Robert Jr.). The other, I was unable to figure out. It is between Lois (wife of Robert Sr.) and Thomas (son of Lois and Robert Sr.). My best guess is another child of the couple, as they had several that died around the same time. All of the death dates on the headstones are within an 8 year period. Another possibility would be the wife of Thomas, although I could not find anything that even stated he was married. The only names that are on any of the county cemetery transcriptions are Rebecca, Robert Sr, Lois and Thomas.

Later that same afternoon I was in Fancher Cemetery to take photos of the Needles family. I was easily able to follow the transcriptions to find Cubbage and Sarah. I posted the image on FindAGrave and several days later got a message from a descendant. They wanted to what the inscription on the marker stated. I couldn't read it from the photo, so I checked the transcription record. Sometimes whoever did the reading will include any information written on the headstones. Unfortunately, this one did not. I made a note to check the headstone itself next time I was in the area. Today I was only a few miles away, so I stopped by to see if I could read it. I could only make out a few words; When Christ..., appear..., shall...  I put this into google and within 5 minutes I found the answer! It was the King James version of Colossians 3:4 "When Christ, who is our / life, shall appear, then / shall ye also appear / with Him in Glory." I compared the verse to the picture and was able to make out even more words. I felt confident that this was the inscription.

These little triumphs are the reason I do this.

Memorial Gardens

I made the ritual trip trough the country today. Seems like every week I have requests for Sunbury, Galena, and Trenton; or at least some combination of these. Today it was Sunbury and Trenton. I also have frequent requests for Stark and Fancher, though not as often as the others. I made it out to these today also, and Africa, which I rarely have requests for.

Whispering Waters

Creek

Cremains Vaults

Walking Path

Memorial Rocks

Fountain and Bridge

 I had several requests for cemeteries I had never been to, one being Kingwood Memorial Gardens. From the main road, the cemetery didn't look like much; just a bunch of flat markers with little flower stands attached. I knew I would never find the marker I was looking for so I stopped in the office to ask. First of all it took forever for the office workers to stop talking to each other and even notice I was there! At one point I thought of just leaving and taking my chances looking for the marker myself. Once I got helped I learned that I would not have been able to find it anyway, as it was in the mausoleum. The guy from the office went with me and on the way drove through a newer part of the cemetery. I commented on how beautiful it was and he immediately went into his sales speech. The section was not like any cemetery I had ever been in. The Whispering Waters section is very landscaped with rock gardens, a pond and a walking path. Created specifically for those that wanted to be cremated, yet still wanted a nice place for their family to visit,  there are memorial benches and markers scattered throughout the area. It was so serene. It put ideas in my mind of a new letterbox to plant. I also think if I ever decide to be cremated this is where I would want to be "planted".

New Friends

Another first time visit was to Northlawn Memorial Gardens. Not as pretty as Kingwood, but the staff was much more helpful and friendly. I was even given a map to the gardens and was able to find the plaque rather quickly. While there I saw a cute little family of Canadian Geese. The little babies were trotting along behind their parents and when the came to a grave marker they would kindly walk around it like they knew it was something special.


The last cemetery I was going to visit today was in Gahanna. I didn't have the transcription for it, but I knew it was available through the library. I hoped the New Albany library had the information I needed, since I was not near the Westerville library. I was wrong. So I drove to the Gahanna library, surely they would have the information about their own town. Nope! It seems their libraries are branches of the Columbus Metropolitan library and all of the local historical information is housed at the main building downtown. I'm glad Westerville is not a branch and I hope they don't change that anytime soon. They have the whole set of Franklin County cemetery transcriptions, so I can almost always find what I need.    

Sorry but I don't have stats for today's trip. (I'm writing this many days later and just don't remember how many pictures I took.)