From last weeks prompt I was brought to a realization that I only focus on WWII history. Being born right after that war and having my father serve in that war, it does make sense that I would have a stronger base for covering that time period. The Sepia Saturday blog has inspired me to seek more info about the people who are buried on the top of the hill of the Murray Cemetery of Murray, Iowa. The last time my wife and I were down there we did take a walk through the oldest part up on the hill. It is the part that has ancient old cedar trees growing and the stones are of an older style. I saw where they were buried and I did have my interest peeked.
The first big thing that I found on the net about the cemetery is that someone has generously created a list of every person's grave and placed the names in the sections easy to find. I can now preview all the people in the different sections on that hill as well as the whole cemetery. The town of Murray became an official town in 1868 so the graves are from the middle 1800's to the 1920's are mostly on that hill. Originally there was a small grave yard that was full located east of town and they moved the graves to the new larger Murray Cemetery. A good thing about the list is that if there was information on the stone, they marked that the person as a veteran of the different wars.
This is a stock picture from the internet that I have borrowed to spruce up my post. Some of the vets' names listed are shown below.
5-9 James F. Stiffler, Nov 14, 1902-Apr 14, 197_, Iowa Pfc. B try B 16th Fld. Arty.
World War I
22-17 George Christy, Oct 15, 1842-Feb 28, 1918 (Vet) (questionable dates)
33-3 Harry H. Lochrie, Sept 4, 1888-Dec 14, 1959-Iowa Cpl. Marine Corps. WWI
Two of the men who were in WW1 lived until 1959 and also 1970. The man named George Christy is a mystery. He was born in 1842. The birth date on this stone was not recorded correctly or the death date is wrong. That would have made him a 76 year old veteran and died in 1918. The cemetery itself was establish in 1855. If he is marked a vet in that area of the cemetery, he definitely was a WW1 Veteran just not such an old one.
The town of Van Wert is a small town, like Murray, and there is a photo on the net showing these guys who are ready to go. They must have had some basic training as the five of them are already in a common uniform. I can imagine that the boat ride overseas was an eyeopener for them. I am sure they are all farmboys headed to war.
An unknown soldier from the United States stands straight to have his photo taken. My knowledge of the history of those who fought in the first war is still pretty weak. I thank the blog prompter who set it up for bringing into another realm. I am not done looking for information about those people who served in early times overseas.
The finding of the cemetery log is going to be fun for me. I have found relatives of my Abernathy roots who have three people buried in the Murray Cemetery. Why they are there is a mystery as all other Abernathys are buried in a rural cemetery north of town on a gravel road in Union county. I also found my Aunt Ruby's grave with her husband in the old section of the cemetery. She is buried up there as her husband's family had many plots for about three generations to use. I knew she was buried there but never way up on the hill with the old stones.
The Sepia Saturday site is full of many interesting blogs from people all over the world. Take time to visit the main site to take adventures into others photos and thoughts by CLICKING HERE.
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