Myers Depot Metal Detectors

Found this OLD gravesite in woods today

GLASSHOPPER1955

GLASSHOPPER1955

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LaPorte County, Indiana
I have a heart stress treadmill test coming up, so I have been out walking in the woods etc. to loosen up from the Winter's "hibernation". As I've always got my eyes peeled looking for anything unusual I spotted this old overgrown gravesite. Looks to me like two children's graves, 9 y.o. Eliza and ? y.o. Sidney who both died 1861-62. Luckily I always have a camera with me.
 

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Seen this one and 4 or 5 others around it the other day in a small patch of trees. Pretty old stones for this area.
 

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Glasshopper you should go to find a grave dot com and enter those graves. People who study genealogy would use those to piece together family histories. Someone may be wondering where so and so lived.
 
Grave sites in woods

GLASSHOPPER1955 said:
I have a heart stress treadmill test coming up, so I have been out walking in the woods etc. to loosen up from the Winter's "hibernation". As I've always got my eyes peeled looking for anything unusual I spotted this old overgrown gravesite. Looks to me like two children's graves, 9 y.o. Eliza and ? y.o. Sidney who both died 1861-62. Luckily I always have a camera with me.

Anyone else find old graves out in the wild? Let's see 'em!
Click to expand...

I would think there was a cabin at one time near by , family plots were often close to the cabin so they could keep them up. Cabin probably rotted away long ago.
 
davidlhyde63366 said:
I would think there was a cabin at one time near by , family plots were often close to the cabin so they could keep them up. Cabin probably rotted away long ago.
Click to expand...

Thats what I was thinking. I would scout the whole area, bring up some maps and use historic aerials to see what was there.

Then hunt the heck out of it.................. :signals:
 
Found some info at Ancestry.com

Hi Glasshopper,

I have an account at Ancestry.com, so just tried doing a search on Eliza. McDonald there in Indiana, with a birth year about 1852 and death date as seen on the grave marker (16 JULY 1861).
There is an Ancestry.com user (sheefrog is her username from LaPorte County Indiana) who has Eliza, her brother Sidney, more siblings and her parents in a family tree posted at Ancestry.com. Pictures of the same two stones are posted there as well.
Some text about those grave markers that is added to the photos, by "sheefrog" I copy/pasted here -

Eliza and Sidney

This is showing both their headstones in the woods. Both had fallen over, and I took the time to straighten them back up. At the bottom of the center of the picture you can see the remains of the fencing that used to go around the area of the headstones.

sheefrog originally shared this on 10 Aug 2011

Linked To

Eliza McDonald  Sidney McDonald

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here is some information about the location of the graves I copied from that person's citation information:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Source Citation for McDonald Homestead (Porter Co., IN), Grave Markers

Citation DetailsAssociated FactsMedia
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Citation Information
Transcript: She is buried on the Family Homestead, which is now part of the National Lakeshore Park system in Porter Co., IN. Detail Private family cemetery.

Source Information
Title - McDonald Homestead (Porter Co., IN), Grave Markers Note McDonald Homestead (Furnessville, Westchester Twp., Porter Co., IN). Grave markers. The area of woods where she and her brother are buried are now considered part of the National Lakeshore Park System, and is now known as the Li Ko Kee Wee Trails.

Repository Information
No repository specified for this source
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In addition, there is an 1860 Census record attached to Eliza's profile that lists the following family members:

Henry R. McDonald, age 32, farmer, born in Canada
Martha McDonald, age 24, born in New York
Eliza, age 8, born in Minnesota
Charles, age 5, born in Indiana
Martha, age 2, born in Indiana

The family tree I'm looking at online shows Sidney being born in 1861, so he would not appear on the 1860 US Census. The tree also shows several other children and that Martha, the mother's maiden name as Martha Mathilde Wilson and she was born in 1835 in New York City, NY.
Henry and Martha's parents and other past generations also are in this tree.

Hope this sheds a little light on this for you.

Jim
 
Neat find. I enjoy found historical stuff.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 
Jimther, VERY interesting! Yes, these were just offtrail (where I was walking) and at the top of a hill, much underbrush and fallen trees around it. These graves are sadly in danger of being destroyed by falling trees or vandals. This is near where a homestead once was, as the NPS usually builds in former existing locations rather than tearing out virgin woods. This area is now a Horse/Walking trail parking lot in Furnessville, Indiana.

That is a lot of good information you have found. I wonder if anything is known of their cause of death so young?

Thanks again.:thumbsup:
 
It's sad to find grave sites like this. The family wanted to keep them close and figured their family would stay on the land forever and they are nowhere to be found. How does one just leave their family behind ?

Those two sites will be remembered and not forgotten.

Sent from my LGLS775 using Tapatalk
 
I see them all over around me. Usually family plots, there should be a homesite close by
 
Always sad when children pass. It use to be common to bury deceased on the coner of the farms. My brother laid waterlines for years. They would occasionally go through a now unmarked grave with the large trenchers and trackhoes.
 
Interesting & sad at the same time. I have seen a few old cemeteries in the woods along hiking trails.

In looking at old maps for years now you can see where the cemeteries were & then see where houses, parks...etc are now and I bet most people don't have a clue what's 6' down.

Awesome detective work Jim!
 
I would look for areas near by where the soil is fairly flat maybe near some old large trees . Most likely a log cabin would of rotted away if not burnt down in that amount of time. Might be some stones around that would have been from a fireplace. We have a old fort near here that was burnt down from that period they have rebuilt the fort from drawings the family grave yard is only short distance from the house with in sight of it as was the garden . (of course off limits to detecting )
 
MuddyMo said:
Always sad when children pass. It use to be common to bury deceased on the coner of the farms. My brother laid waterlines for years. They would occasionally go through a now unmarked grave with the large trenchers and trackhoes.
Click to expand...

There's simply no way for so much development to occur over former farmland without running into burial sites, not to mention native burial sites. Most are ignored or deemed archeologically insignificant and development continues.
 
DbblTap said:
It's sad to find grave sites like this. The family wanted to keep them close and figured their family would stay on the land forever and they are nowhere to be found. How does one just leave their family behind ?

Those two sites will be remembered and not forgotten.

Sent from my LGLS775 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I hear ya! In this case, these are on Fed property so I'm sure they know about them. This land was, like all the other tracts, either leasebacked or donated to the NPS. The sad part is that they don't maintain the spot (unlike the historic Bailly Homestead cemetary a few miles west of this location) and it is left to end up like you see it here.
 
GLASSHOPPER1955 said:
I hear ya! In this case, these are on Fed property so I'm sure they know about them. This land was, like all the other tracts, either leasebacked or donated to the NPS. The sad part is that they don't maintain the spot (unlike the historic Bailly Homestead cemetary a few miles west of this location) and it is left to end up like you see it here.
Click to expand...
A gpr study should be done there. When I come across them, as crazy as it sounds I talk to them to show them the respect they deserve.

Sent from my LGLS775 using Tapatalk
 
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