Exploring the stories etched in gravestones and tracing the roots that connect us to the past. A passion for preserving history and honoring legacies.
Genealogist, cemetery wanderer, researcher and stone cleaner.
11/27/2024
A long overdue trip to the Lanark Highlands yesterday in search of some (quite distant) cousins. Wasn't anticipating it to be such a lovely, well-kept cemetery, but it truly is a little gem. And speaking of little gems, look at the sweet picture of Cinda Love, who sadly died of Whooping Cough at the age of six. Beautiful day for late November, even if it did seem that the sun started setting at 2:30 in the afternoon.
11/16/2024
I wasn’t able to do much stone cleaning in the latter half of the summer, but my cemetery visits and rabbit-hole adventures and subsequent research continued nonetheless.
A few weeks ago, while in Brockville, I decided to explore the cemetery (or rather, cemeteries) on the south side of Hwy 2. What an incredible find! There’s so much history here to delve into when I have more time.
In the Old Anglican section, this cairn immediately caught my eye. It didn’t just lead me down one fascinating path—it opened up several new avenues of research.
One major revelation was learning that Dr. Malloch, commemorated here, was a student and friend of Dr. Joseph Lister—the pioneer of antiseptic surgery, who we should all thank for reducing our risk of dying of puerperal fever during childbirth and from life-threatening infections like sepsis and gangrene from minor wounds. Thanks, Dr. Lister! I'll think of you whenever I gargle!
This discovery made me realize that one of my favourite authors, Dr. Lindsey Fitzharris wrote a book a few years ago, The Butchering Art, which delves into Lister’s life and revolutionary contributions. Needless to say, I’m off to Novel Idea Bookstore to grab a copy!
11/11/2024
A quick progression post taken over three days. I was cleaning other stones in the vicinity and spotted this one belonging to my first cousin (twice removed) Lawrence Henry and his wife Julia. Thought I should clean it up a little while I was in the area. I rarely post the photos that I take in between the before and after because it tends to be a pretty ugly period while the cleaner really starts eating away at the growth. It's called "blushing" but the name makes it sound better than it looks. That said, this one isn't too bad.
Another stone from early June. Thanks so much to Mike Palmer for sharing his family's stories (and stones) with me. I feel like I could write an entire book on some of the people I research - reducing their lives to a few captions doesn't really do some of these stories justice.
07/06/2024
A recent and enjoyable cleaning I did for a family group - it was nice to have my stones all lined up like this so that I could work on them assembly line style! Thanks John Parcher and family!
06/29/2024
Another buried treasure -- thank you Mike, for continuing to loan me your family and your stories!
06/26/2024
Another stone cleaned and reclaimed from the soil, thanks to the wonderful grand-daughters of Arvella Wood, who are ensuring their family legacy continues on. There's a bit of a pattern with me digging out stones this summer. It's very satisfying to reveal words that have been hidden for a while.
06/19/2024
Thanks so much to Susan, Sandra and your sister, who've kindly allowed me to post my cleaning of their parents' stone this weekend!
Catching up from a busy weekend at the cemetery. One of the benefits of doing these is the wonderful friendships that are created. In this stone, I've realized the history of Dick Richards is unexpectedly intertwined with that of my own family. The roots are deep in Kingston, and twist off in all sorts of directions! Thank you, Mike, for allowing me to adopt some of your family into my own!
I have to move out of Old Section E for a few days while I work on other stones in the cemetery, but I will leave this work in progress here. I walked by it so often while cleaning other stones nearby that I got curious enough to start digging around the edges. I always worry about people being forgotten as the stones sink further into the earth, and sure enough, at the very bottom of this stone, buried 2 inches under the hard soil was hidden the name of their 27 day old baby boy, Henry. I haven't been able to locate a birth or death registration for him, so this is the only record I have so far to show he lived, however briefly, on the earth. I did ascertain that he was a twin, and his sister, Eliza Ann died in 1944 at the age of 62, unmarried.
I'd already been working on stones belonging to other family members, so I'm glad to have brought this one out a little. I can't clean it with anything but water, given the condition it's in, but it's nice to see the names of the matriarch and patriarch of this long-time Kingston family.