17 December 2015

More shared documents

Not only have I been busy finding cemeteries, but I've also been creating spreadsheets of the cemeteries I photograph and of cemeteries I would like to find. This makes it easier for me to find which stones are missing and what typos Holdcraft may have made. Having a list also helps me figure out hard to read stones since it's usually possible to read at least some of the carvings.

Before Holdcraft wrote Names in Stone, he published multiple, smaller books on the cemeteries he visited. Volume 5, which can be found on this webpage, lists many of the family cemeteries. This is one of the easier ways for me to create individual sheets for cemeteries, far easier then trying to go through each page of Names in Stone looking for individual names to fill out each cemetery.

Here is a link to all of the spreadsheets I have made in the past few months. Some are in PDF form while others are in spreadsheet form, though they can be viewed in Google Docs without downloading them. I'm slowly trying to get all of them to look the same so I can have one standard. They should be similar, but there are some minor differences, such as not putting ages and such in the last block.

Dates are all done, month/day/year. Stones I was not able to find are italicized, while stones Holdcraft didn't find are in bold. If I have found the cemetery then I've usually given coordinates and an address. 


16 December 2015

A new list of missing cemeteries


Wow time flies when you're having fun. I've been quite lucky the last couple of months in locating some of the smaller family cemeteries in the county. This past weekend I found the Brown Family Cemetery #1, which is just over the Washington County line. The land owner was quite nice and lead me directly to the cemetery. Since I was in the area, and Holdcraft had documented it, I also photographed the Mount Zion United Methodist Church cemetery.

Following those two cemetery finds I went looking for other cemeteries in the Sabillasville area. I now know where the Harbaugh family cemetery is, but the property owners were not home and I wasn't able to document it. Hopefully the next time I stop by they will be home.

I've also discovered a few cemeteries where the stones have been moved. The Kline family, [9A], was moved to Saint Marks cemetery in Wolfsville, while the Maugans family cemetery, [12A], was moved to the nearby Salem cemetery in Wolfsville. When Holdcraft wrote his book he knew a few cemeteries were being moved and said where they had been moved to. The Kemp family cemetery, [202], stones were moved to Mount Olivet, though either one of the stones wasn't moved or the Mount Olivet database does have it listed as I wasn't able to find it.

Part of the reason I've been doing this project it to see what stones are still around, which ones have been lost, and at times find new stones. Below is a new list of cemeteries I have not yet located. Some I've been given coordinates for but I haven't yet been to. Others I know most likely no longer exist, while others may have been moved to a new cemetery. If you happen to know of any of these cemeteries please let me know.





NameHoldcraftAddressLatLonNotes
Toms Family Cemetery3Bwest of Quirauk School Road 1/2 mile north of MD77


Brown Cemetery 34Anorth of MD77 1/2 west of Foxville


Ridenour Family Cemetery4Bsouth of MD77, 1/4 west of Stottlemeyer Road


Wolf Family Cemetery7Asouth of Smithsburg road at Garfield crossroads


Draper Family Cemetery8



Leatherman Family Cemetery20A1.25 miles north of Ellerton


Harshman Family Cemetery20Beast of Harp Hill Road, 3/4 mile from Grossnickle's Church


Harbaugh Family Cemetery29Sabillasville Rd


Friends Creek Church of God34Friends Creek Road39.7156-77.4044
old Mount Saint Mary's Catholic Cemetery36
39.68041-77.35786
Whitmore Family Cemetery [Dern Farm]45Dern Road39.65569-77.29042possibly moved to Mountain View cemetery
Hoover Family Cemetery46off US 15 north of fish hatchery


Henge (Hankey) Family Cemetery51south of Moser Road


Valentine Family Cemetery55North of 77 west of bridge, near RR


Pittenger Family Cemetery57Hiney Road


Methodist Protestant Cemetery58



Lichlider Family Cemetery63Awest of Hessong Bridge Road south of Blacks Mill Road


Mountaindale Brethren Church66Bethel & Mountaindale Roads39.51971-77.43679
Saint John's Reformed Church71
39.5353-77.3136GPs end up in house
Link-Creager Family Cemetery75south of Daysville Road39.49271-77.32452GPs would be in stream
Shepherd-Webb Family Cemetery110Good Intent Road


German Baptist Church111Houck Road


Saylor Family Cemetery113Bunker Hill Road


Smith Family Cemetery116across road from Roop cemetery


Methodist Episcopal Church119
39.53527-77.23138
Grabill Family Cemetery 2121Molasses Road


Baker Family Cemetery122Molasses and Repp Roads


Saum Family Cemetery124McKinstrys Mill Road


Landis Family Cemetery125Sams Creek Road and New Windsor Road


Burgess Family Cemetery128Pine Tree Road


Lover's Rock Cemetery130Green Valley Road MD 75


Simpson Family Cemetery 2132Fountain School Road near New Windsor Road; 9608 B Fountain School Road


Dudderar Family Cemetery134south of New Windsor Road and McKinstrys Mill Road


Ensey Family Cemetery [Rachel Ensey Grave]135Albaigh Road


Baker Family Cemetery136Barnes Road39.482119-77.14826
Lugenbeel-Worman Family Cemetery [Frank Barnes Farm]137Oak Orchard and Covers Corners, off Barnes Road


Devilbiss Family Cemetery138north of Oak Orchard Road


[abandoned] Mount Hope Church of God1421236 Mountain Church Road39.4346-77.62698
Young Family Cemetery144near Marker Road


Ramsburg Family Cemetery145On Beachley Road near Marker Road


Flook Family Cemetery145Anortheast of Biddle and Picnic Woods Roads


Pyke-Coblentz Family Cemetery149south of [Alt] US 40


Smith Family Cemetery150Cherry Lane


House-Phillips Family Cemtery151Old Middletown Road


Schoolhouse Cemetery1522 miles NE of Burkittsville, on Arnoldstown Road


Pleasant Valley Brethren Church1536213 Picnic Woods Road39.4028-77.6089Not sure which cemetery this is.
Slifer Family Cemetery1551/2 of Burkittsville, on Ahalt Distilery Road


Hook-McGill Family Cemetery156west of Catholic Church Road


Shaff Family Cemetery158B1/4 mile west of Catoctin Creek, south of MD550


Lamar Family Cemetery159ACarroll Boyer Road


Cost Family Cemtery159BHaine Road


Boteler Family Cemetery160A



Feaster Family Cemetery161ARoy Remsburg Road


Chunn/Ridgley Family Cemetery161B



Hoffman Family Cemetery162On Elmer Derr Road near Hawker Road


Clagett-Duvall Family Cemetery168



Stephen Ramsburg Family Cemetery178


no stones remain
Cronise Family Cemetery179



Lease Family Cemetery185North of Gas House Pike east of McKaig


Jones Family Cemetery186west of Old Annapolis Road


Nelson Family Cemetery187Central Church Road


Price Family Cemetery188Yeagerstown Road


Hall-Wood Family Cemetery190


cemetery not found in NIS descriptions
[Grace] Trinity Reformed Church193US 40


Keller Family Cemetery195



Crum Family Cemetery196south of Ray Smith Road


Zimmerman Family Cemetery208Ballenger Creek Meadows


[Harriet] Simmons Family Cemetery213off MD 355 north of Urbana


Rine Family Cemetery215near Cracked Claw39.3275-77.35083stones missing
Kramer-Jacobs Family Cemetery217Aat corner of County roads commission borrow pit


Johnson Family Cemetery219ADixon Road


Rollins Family Cemetery225on Slate Quarry Road


McClain Family Cemetery226A



Campbell Family Cemetery231west of Mapleville Road


Dorsey-Mercer Family Cemetery232off Woodville Road south of Unionville


Lugenbeel Family Cemetery 1233on Woodville Road south of Unionville


Lugenbeel Family Cemetery 2234on Liberty Road east of Unionville


Nusbaum Family Cemetery234A150 feet south of MD26, 0.3 east of intersection of Unionville by-pass


Old Hammond Property235



Gosnell-Haines Family Cemetery236on Buffalo Road south of 2639.4933-77.1072no FAG known/partly moved to Bethel United
Douty Family Cemetery241West Falls Road

Carroll County
Harn Family Cemetery242Peddicord Road


Poole Family Cemtery 2245east of Kimmel Road


James-Kimmel Family Cemetery246Old Annapolis Road39.42087-77.2211
Devilbiss-Clary Family Cemetery247Dollyhyde Road south of Unionville


Buckey Family Cemetery249Lime Plant Road

possibly moved to 112
Higgins Family Cemetery249Anorth of Lime Plant Road 1.5 miles east of New London


Dorsey Family Cemetery253Detrick Road39.384718-77.23992
Brashear Family Cemetery257near Old Bohn & Buffalo Roads


Fowler-Rine Family Cemetery262Bill Moxley Road


Fowler-Rine Family Cemetery263Route 80 and Bartholows Road


05 September 2015

Busy summer and cemetery differences

It's been a rather busy summer, with vacations and not getting out as much as I would have liked. I did take photos of a couple of cemeteries, and redid one cemetery completely so the stones were more readable. What I haven't done is gone and looked for the family cemeteries as by now they will be over grown and harder to find.

One trip I made was to Ireland. I have a good friend that lives there which makes for a nice, easy place to go. As I had some time to myself, and I came across a few cemeteries I decided to take some photos and put them on Find a Grave. Little did I know that just finding the proper cemeteries on FAG would be so difficult, as in I still haven't been able to find the proper places yet.

I did however, notice some striking differences in cemeteries and tombstones between the US and Ireland. In Ireland, and from a lot of the rest of Europe that I've seen, the cemeteries have walls surrounding the plot. In some places they will cover the plot with stones while others leave the grass to grow. Both of the photos below are from the same cemetery on Achill Island in county Mayo.




















The photo below I took when I was in Latvia in 2014. The stone lists only the surname, but is a family plot, something I also saw in Ireland. 
Latvian family plot
Some of the plots I saw in Ireland were quite complex. I am having a hard time figuring out the entire family line in this photo.


















While it will take me some time to figure out where these cemeteries are, at least there are some beautiful views to be had.
Achill Island

06 July 2015

New filters and how they can help in bright light

I'm only an amateur photographer, I've taken a couple of classes and understand how to use my camera, but there are still tons of things to learn. Of course not all tombstones will be readable after 100+ years, but many can using the right  lighting and/or a flash. As I wrote about in A better way to photograph tombstones, using a flash really helps.

That said, because many cemeteries face east, on bright days it can be impossible to get good shots as the sun is either directly behind you or directly in front of you. Even with a flash the sun can make getting a good shot difficult. Because of my limited time I usually go in the mornings to shoot a lot of the cemeteries. A lot of the time I carry an umbrella with me to block the light either from behind or in front of me. Being by myself a lot makes this difficult, and I'm sure makes for an interesting sight to see.

I've tried a warming filter, which I liked as it blocked some of the sunlight, but didn't always work. I also tried a polarizing filter, which also sometimes worked, but not as well. I've since gotten a set of neutral density filters that I hope will help out. The filters block out some of the light, but not the colors as other filters do. This has helped out when it's a bright, clear sky.

This is Saint Mark's church in Wolfsville. I used an 8x filter and as you can see the sun is right there but I was able to get the photo.

The two photos below show the same stone, the one on the left was taken with a flash and no filter, the one on the right with a filter and flash. They are both readable, but the one that used the filter is a bit darker and in some cases helps make the stone more readable.


The next four photos are of the same stone with the flash, f-stop and shutter speed were not changed. The first photo, upper left, is with no filter. The photo below that is with a .3 ND filter, the upper right is with a .6 ND filter and the bottom right is with a .9 ND filter, and on the bottom is with a warming filter. Depending on the light the use of these filters can greatly enhance a stone's readability. (Sorry for the way the photos are arranged, the editor placed them this way.)




16 June 2015

The locals usually know the way.

A few weeks ago I was documenting the Buckeystown Methodist Church, which is behind a bed and breakfast. The owners were quite happy to show me around the B&B that they were renovating and they were quite happy that someone was documenting their cemetery. I also asked him if he knew of any other cemeteries in the area, but since he was newer to the area he didn't. He did however know the person I should ask, Nancy Bodmer, who owns Bodmer's Store. She has written a couple of books on the history of Buckeystown. However, because I took a bit too much time photographing and talking I was late for the Historical Society.

This past weekend I needed to get a couple of better photos of the Church cemetery so I stopped back by. After getting my information I decided to stop off and see if I could find out some more information about the family cemeteries that at one point were in the area. At first Nancy could only remember the Methodist church site that I had already been too, but after looking through one of her books she found a second one, the Davis Family Cemetery. I don't believe she had ever been there, but she knew the land owners and directed me in the right direction.

Because I had spent almost 30 minutes talking to Nancy, I was almost late to make it to the Historical Society on time. Because there were only supposed to be six stones in the cemetery I figured I could get the information and not be too late. When I got to the property, the owner John, asked me to come back later and was told 4 would be a good time. When I came back I was offered a ride in a cart to make it to the cemetery as it was across the fields and through a few fences.

Along the way I learned that John's father had owned the land prior to him and that now he and his wife spent half the year in Arizona and half here and that they had just gotten back. He also told me that the previous year he had had the stone fence redone. After getting to the cemetery I was disheartened to see only five stones when I thought there were supposed to be six, however, after looking at my photos I found that one stone contained two names. I was glad that John was able to take me as I never would have found the place myself.
Davis Family Cemetery

After finishing the Davis cemetery I didn't have a clear plan. So I ended up going to Jefferson to see about taking some photos of my Kessler relatives, but the church was having some sort of activity so I decided against taking photos at the time.

I've found over the last year or so of trying to find cemeteries one really does just have to keep asking around until you come across the right person. Usually that one person knows enough to find one or two places, sometimes more.