Wacky World of Headstone Styles

As you wander among headstones there are varying types, styles, colors, fonts, shapes, sizes, and on and on and on. One thing specifically to this area, is the lack of even basic information. Now that could be for many reasons, one may have been money, then the lettering was hand chiseled, one may have been people didn't see the importance of having so much information. Now, some of the more recent headstones seem to be placing more of an emphasis of leaving information behind for others, but those 1800-mid 1900 stones it just wasn't seen as often in this area.

Now let's look at the ones from England, FULL of information not only about that person, but the person's family. How incredible is that? When the first settlers came to this country from Europe and their burials commenced, they carried on with this tradition of including these wealth's of information. Somewhere along the way as they moved west, those traditions seemed to die out. Was it because of money or the lack there of, was it because they didn't have those with the skills they were used to, as seen below, back in Europe? If you look closely, now remember this was in the 1800s, there were no lasers to complete these pieces of art. Look at the precise lettering, the scroll work, and not to mention those stones were hand carved into those shapes!

We definitely haven't found anything like this in Oklahoma, at least in the part that I am in, but Andrea's cemeteries in the United Kingdom are filled with them. One day I would LOVE to go visit them there and also I would love visit the Northeast portion of the US and Virginia where the settles came and started their lives and found their resting places here. I'd love to photograph those headstones and cemeteries.

We hope you enjoy the photos, Andrea's are from St. Andrew's Church, Netherton, Dudley, United Kingdom.

Happy Hunting,
~Alisha

Travel Tuesday - Hi from The Sanatorium Postcard

My recent run in with Mr. Robert from Texas, the man I previously wrote about that not only came upon but sent me original letters and a sermon from my 4 x great grandfather, he also sent these to me. I love looking at old things, old pictures, imagining what it must have been like to live in that time, those days and conditions. I treasure these new found goodies from Robert! Thank you again for your kindness and going way above and beyond!

From Alma Smedley at the State Sanatorium to Mr J H Smedley in Mansfield Arkansas.
Stamp dated Feb. 10, 1937.


  

             This is the postal side of the card.

This is the image on the opposite side of the card (it took me a minute to figure out what was going on in the image).

The bottom says "Keeping flies off the Mellon, State Sanatorium, Arkansas" 

The following images are the buildings on the Sanatorium grounds. These are the flip cards inside the actual post card itself.

Nurses Home

                    Administrative Building

                    George B Brown Building

                       Meriweather Hall

                       John Stewart Building

                         Office Building

Bird's eye view of State Sanatorium, Arkansas

Arkansas State Tuberculosis Sanatorium The Arkansas State Tuberculosis Sanatorium was established in 1909 about three miles south of Booneville (Logan County). Once fully established, the sanatorium was the relocation center for all white Arkansans with tuberculosis. By the time the facility was closed in 1973, it treated over 70,000 patients, and in time, its main hospital, the Nyberg Building, became known worldwide for its tuberculosis treatment. With the passage of Act 378 of the General Assembly, a board of trustees was created to oversee the search for land to build a sanatorium. This was a very vital start to create a facility that would, in fact, quarantine a highly pathogenic disease. Tuberculosis, which caused scarring of the lungs and led to many deaths, was spread by the fluids of the respiratory tracts of infected persons; the bacteria that caused it could become airborne when those fluids dried. Before the sanatorium, the mortality rate of the disease was eighty percent. The sanatorium helped to reduce that rate to ten percent. The search for land began in March 1909, and the site south of Booneville was selected by October. The first patient was admitted in August 1910; by year’s end, the population at the center had reached sixty-four. In 1924, the Belle Pointe Masonic Lodge in Fort Smith (Sebastian County) constructed the Mason’s Building for children, and in 1927, a school was added for the young patients. In 1938, the legislature passed the Nichols-Nyberg Act, which funded the construction of a new hospital building on the grounds. The act was promoted by Phillips County Representative Leo E. Nyberg, who had tuberculosis and lived at the sanatorium, and by Logan County Representative Lee Nichols. The hospital building, probably the most notable on the grounds, is 528 feet long and five stories tall with a full basement and housed 511 patients. The building also housed doctors’ offices, X-ray facilities, and the employee cafeteria and kitchen, and while it was not common knowledge, the sanatorium morgue was housed there also. The building was named for Nyberg, although he passed away before it was completed in 1941. The facility became known worldwide for tuberculosis treatment as it was one of the most modern and successful facilities of the day. Today, half of the first floor is used for offices, and the rest of the building is closed. Besides the Nyberg Building, the facility had many structures, including dormitories, staff entertainment buildings, a chapel, a laundry, water treatment plant, and even a fire department. Today, most of the structures are used, and in fact, the fire department still operates within the grounds, and until recently, the Benedictine monks of Subiaco Abbey and Academy (Logan County) operated the chapel. The complex was self-sustaining, housing nearly 300 staff members at the height of its use, and the total population of the center at the time was greater than that of Booneville in the valley below. In the 1950s, new drugs to treat tuberculosis had resulted in a decline in the center’s patient population. It was decided by the sanatorium administration to operate it as a children’s colony as well; this continued until the facility closed in 1973. In 1971, the General Assembly dissolved the sanatorium as an independent agency and created the Department of Health to oversee it. At the time, the health department was also left in charge of the sanatorium at Alexander (Saline County), which was the relocation center for all non-white people with tuberculosis. On February 26, 1973, the last seven patients were discharged, and on March 13, the legislature approved Act 320, authorizing the facility’s closure and the transfer of control from the Department of Health to the Board of Mental Retardation. On June 30, 1973, the Arkansas State Tuberculosis Sanatorium officially closed, and the main gates were left unlocked for the first time in more than sixty years. Today, the facility operates as the Booneville Human Development Center and is classified as a historic site. While most people who were condemned to live at the center considered it the equivalent of a death sentence, in actuality, the outdoor air on the top of the mountain benefited patients. Treatment—consisting of fresh air, bed rest, and drug therapy—usually lasted from ten months to two years, although some people did stay longer.   PAGE INFORMATION

Thank you for stopping by again!

Happy Hunting,
~Alisha

Withering Away ~ St. Andrews Church Cemetery Netherton United Kingdom

There are times when traversing cemeteries that you feel somehow inspired, somehow in awe and then.... there are sometimes you feel complete and utter sadness at the state of things.

As I have mentioned before my business partner slash best friend, Ward, lives in England, Netherton to be exact. These pictures are ones she took this morning and I converted to a video to share with you all. You see, it isn't just in the US that there are problems with the state of cemeteries being left in a shambles. This seems to be an international issue, one that could so easily be remedied.

This particular cemetery is at St. Andrews Church in Netherton, it is a church cemetery. "Netherton's parish church, St Andrew's, consecrated in 1830, is situated on Netherton Hill at the highest point in Netherton. It was originally just a chapel-at-ease to St Thomas's of Dudley, only becoming Netherton's parish church in 1844. The church is surrounded by the gravestones of many of the former residents of the area. The churchyard also contains the mass unmarked graves of the victims of cholera that struck Dudley in 1831 and 1832." (Wikipedia)A As you can see there are MANY fallen marble tablet headstones, brick undercarriages that are falling and breaking under the headstones, weeds that are the size of trees, just all around disrepair. 


There is so much history in that cemetery, there are so many people there who I am sure thought they would be taken care of, watched over and remembered. It seems they have been forgotten, or life is too busy or maybe it is in the churches responsibility and it has failed its parishioners? All I know is that whether in America, or England, or Timbuktu, these precious souls need looking over, their graves cleaned up and at the least some semblance of respect shown to them and the lives they had here. How sad for these people, for their memories, for their passing. 


I have come across only a few, so far, that have been in disrepair, or completely forgotten. Generally what I come across are individual stones that have been let go, grown over or just all together fallen apart. This is the first time seeing another countries cemetery and the state in which it is being left. Ward says there are a few thousand people buried here, aside from the mass cholera grave no one seems to know the exact location of there on the grounds.

All I know is that the dead as well as the living should be treated with a much greater respect than this. I am absolutely starting to join the side of the "clean these precious places". As opposed to the
people who believe they should be left to age. To me, there is nothing gracious or respectful about letting these last resting places go to ruin.


Thank you to Ward for supplying us with these images.....

Happy Hunting,

~Alisha

Sentimental Sunday - Sunday Lunch at Grandma's

As a kid Sundays meant getting up, excitedly, going to my maternal grandparents for Sunday lunch. It also meant me making the mashed potatoes and sweet tea (my appointed tasks as I got older), and licking the cake bowl, can't waste that yumminess!

Let me tell you that grandma, Elsie, not only was she older, she was in her 80s when I was a young child, in my 10-12 years of age, she was an AMAAAAAAAAZING cook, baker and canning queen! Besides on Sundays, I LOVED hanging out with my grandparents. Grandpa and I spent lots of time in his garden, he carried a pocket knife in his pocket and I remember snacking on turnips, cucumbers, tomatoes off the vine! I also adored his stories, oh those precious stories. Us kids loved eating off their peach tree, the pear tree had some of the best pears in town! Grandma and I were in the kitchen, I watched with great intent as she baked and cooked. I get my love for cooking and baking from her, this I know!

So, back to Sundays! I was there early in the kitchen, eating breakfast with them, fried eggs, toast were the norm, although on special days grandma would make chocolate gravy and biscuits. HOMEMADE, everything!!!! Oh how I MISS her cooking, their company. Grandpa would tell stories of the family, times growing up, living in California and what it was like going through the Great Depression, getting around before cars, working old farms and old living.

My Aunt who lived behind them would come in around 1030 or so to help grandma, not that she needed it but that's just what we did. My sister hid out in her room, of course I was always bugging her, cause that's what little sisters do best! Then my other aunt and her family of 6 would arrive, at this point there are about 15 people there, and this was normal. Let me point out a few things, grandma cooked on a 4 burner cook top for us, a few things, the food was ALWAYS HOT, and there were ALWAYS leftovers. 20 could show up, or 15 and there would be leftovers. A table FULL of food, then half a table of desserts. How on earth she managed it, I don't know but I saw it Sunday after Sunday. Oh the Holidays were RAMPED up and even more food and more people wandering in and out all day! Football on the TV, kids in the kitchen at the kids table, the adults in the dining room at the adult table. Grandma and grandpa sat in their respective seats in the living room and had theirs.

There were never two nicer, nor two people, aside from my father, that I miss more on this earth, than these two beautiful souls and the tradition of Sunday lunches at their house. They have left me some of the BEST memories of my childhood, they inspire me daily as I continue on this journey to bringing others pasts to their present.

Grandpa John and Grandma Elsie Smedley - You are missed and loved!

I hope your family has left you with fond memories and traditions.

Happy hunting,
~Alisha

Photographs, Paper, Pen, Clipboard and COPS, OH MY!

Well as the title eludes I am still working, in the heat of this wonderful Oklahoma summer, on photographing, documenting all the cemeteries in Le Flore County. Now, that might not seem too large a task when you visit your local cemetery, but on average cemeteries here have around 200 internment's that are identifiable. Those have to be photographed, some require a few shots to discern the writing, then there are making all the notes (thus the paper, pen and clipboard in the title of this blog) because sometimes no matter how you turn your head, stand on your tip toes, down on your knees in the ant piles, leaning down looking under leaning stones looking for clues, pressing yourself into bushes and thorns, you just cannot make out what those precious things say...sigh

As I was bending, twisting, turning, writing this very morning in a local cemetery, I hear a vehicle (Ward's favorite word I say HA, British think we use funny words here lol), behind me which isn't all too unfamiliar a sound. I normally wait and hear someone walking then make sure I am not in a place that they are trying to get to. Sometimes I am asked what I am doing, I take a minute to explain. Usually to the tune of a smile and a nod, a time or two it has been an "Oh, that's wonderful", followed by the quizzical look of, hmmmm, what is she thinking?

Today, however, I hear the vehicle, I listen for footsteps, none. So I just turn slightly to see, no matter where you live you still have to be aware of your surroundings, and there looking puzzled in a uniform, badge, GUN, is a local police officer. Now, I have no issues with police in general, as with any position (even in nursing there are people who get a big head and think they are WAY more than they are) there are some that go a bit overboard. I was greeted with a sorta smile and a "Good mornin." I returned the "Good morning" and turned back around as to get busy again and then I heard the footsteps. So, I turned again to him, and his now partner getting out. I am thinking, "ummmm, am I REALLY being talked to by the police"?

He goes on to say that apparently some neighbors were concerned as there was a car and someone with something in their hands walking around the cemetery. I smiled and explained what I was doing, then I showed him my business card, which I keep one in my pocket just in case. I showed him my papers that I had been working on and he was pleasant enough with me and said that I was doing a good service for the community and to carry on. Like I wouldn't have anyways, but hey, I suppose it made him feel alright giving me permission to do what I was going to otherwise!

I sent Ward a text about my little run in and I think we both had a great laugh! Some days it doesn't pay to get out of bed, some days interesting things happen that turn into blog material! HA

Since you all know I am doing cemetery work, I can't go a blog and not introduce you to one of our recent discoveries!

Native American Burials

Happy Hunting,
~Alisha

Tombstone Tuesday ~ The Stewart Family and The Reed Family

I come across headstones, obviously, on a nearly daily basis, some are beautiful with elaborate writings and pictures, signatures, photographs, nick knacks, and little trinkets left behind signifying they are loved and remembered. Some are left with little bits of humor, in a funny epitaph or cute little picture. Then, there are those that are 10-20 years old that still have the little tin or plastic cemetery marker, some with a stone and no name, some in cement with hand drawn names and dates, folks doing the best they can with what they have to make sure their loved ones are remembered. Then there are some, usually small children or someone whose family has moved away, who are alone in the cemetery, no family close in the cemetery itself, no flowers, overgrown weeds and what not. I feel for them, being left behind or no one around that remembers or takes time for them in this busy old world.

Then there are ones like the Stewart and the Reed families, as seen below. Now, death is sad, please bear with me on that sentiment, but it is a part of living, the dying and the leaving people behind. I have faced great loss at a very early age, as have many, so I do understand the impact that losing a loved one has on a person, on a family, even the dynamics of a family can change when certain people are no longer a part of their everyday routines.

I love that not only are they buried together in the same place, but they share a resting spot. I find that somehow comforting that as in life, in death they are surrounded by the people that meant the most to them and that they will never be left. Maybe that sounds a bit silly seeing how they aren't really aware of that fact, but maybe it is my own comfort knowing that those people had loved ones, ones they in life were beside and also in death. Having people in your life that mean so much to us, who we would give our lives for, resting next to us is somehow very peaceful to me.

It is my fond hope that each of us have at least that one person in our lives that no matter what we can count on them to always be there, and in death beside us in our final resting places.

Meet the 5 Family Reed's

I would love to point out all the little trinkets and flowers left for this precious little family. It really makes my heart swell!



Meet the 4 Family Stewart's

This BEAUTIFUL monument for this wonderful little family stands out among the ones around it. The single red rose to let them know that someone is still coming to visit and love them.


Happy Hunting,
~Alisha

Makeover Monday

I have decided that a few days a week will be theme days here on our blog. Monday as you can see, is Makeover Monday. I wrote an article recently talking about to "Clean or Not to Clean" and I have to say that that the more I see these stones wasting away, information being lost, I am of the mind that cleaning, without harming is ok!

I have to think of this a few ways, yes, these are private pieces of property and while caring for them I cannot and will not do anything that harms, defects, or defames the nature of the stone or its information. I in no way want to disrespect the person, or the family that this stone is placed for and above. So in keeping with that, I feel it is my responsibility to research ways, safely, to remove mold, mildew, crusty stuff, and in a way that does not destroy the integrity of the memorial.

So, below you will see a Before and an After shot from this morning. Now, I have to say that it has been D.R.Y. here in Eastern Oklahoma, we are under burn bans in fact. Last night a storm came roaming through and gave everything a good soaking. Because the heat indexes have been in the 100+ range I get out and about early to capture my images before the day gets on too hot. Well, now I have attempted with a soft bristle brush before, to remove this particular type of fungi/mold, with very little luck. It seems once it set in it wasn't budging. Now, when it first starts into the cracks and crevices you can at times, read them a bit easier with the creature in there. Once it takes over though, the words and names and dates are long gone.

Back to that rain, well this creature on this precious stone had been completely saturated the night before and the sun hadn't quite made it up enough to dry it back out. I gave the creature a nudge with my brush and what normally doesn't happen, happened, it budged! Not only did it budge, it basically wiped itself off! I think I shouted out loud with glee!

Tell me what you think...

Before

After (now it is still wet and I didn't wait til the sun dried it to see the full outcome but I think you can see)

No fluids (other than the rain), no metals, no scrub brushes were used, just at tiny soft bristled rubber brush and elbow grease.

Well, what do you think? Worth the Makeover?

Happy Hunting,
~Alisha