GENEALOGY AND PRESERVATION OF CEMETERIES FOR MEMORIAL DAY by Deborah Woolf, [email protected]

My son's 4-H group planned a cemetery clean up in preparation for Memorial Day. They have taken on the task of maintaining an historical, small rural cemetery, that last year was overgrown with weeds. The historical society oversees this project. I knew I would enjoy the historical markers, and indeed I did. This cemetery is not as old as some on the East Coast, but early Oregon pioneers are buried here.

My son was walking through some periwinkle, laying like a thick, tall carpet in one corner of the site, when he tripped on something. He pushed back the plants and found a sunken marker almost buried by dirt. My husband and I trimmed back the weeds and found that the plot was marked with a low rectangular wall and inside was the marker. We carefully pushed back the dirt and found the inscriptions on it. This forgotten grave was that of one of the town's early pioneers; indeed, a road just over the rise was named in the family's honor. He died in 1848; she in 1872. We had to dig out the sunken marker -- it was almost two feet into the grave. It was not an easy task, and had to be done gently so as not to break the marker. We got it upright, and by now the entire 4-H group was standing around wondering what we were doing. I explained that these people had been forgotten, or perhaps "lost" over the years, and our finding and restoring their markers would help keep their memories alive. Most of the kids starting pitching in, and when we finished they had smiles on their faces. Some were talking about finding out who the couple were. I know that next year this grave will not be neglected, the kids will make sure the periwinkle is cleaned up around it, and, who knows, maybe they will find more graves and restore them.

This week, if you have time, think about performing a clean up service. Think about how nice that would be for a visiting family member on this Memorial Day. You will feel very proud that you did it, and you will enjoy the sunshine and the historical facts on the stones. I enjoyed it so much, I am thinking of finding out if it has been indexed and going back to do it.

I also found a name on one of those sites, that is a common name I research. I plan to share that with the THOMPSON list and maybe help someone find a lost member of their family. That name was Francis M. THOMPSON. He was born in the late 1700s and died in the 1800s. I will be happy to go get the exact dates if someone claims this man.