Roberts Cemetery Restoration Project... Chapter 2

I posted a question to a group of genealogist I am apart of on Facebook, and desided it is a good time to post an update to this topic, the Roberts Cemetery Restoration Project. It seems to short of a time from when I started this project this last spring to have spring be the next season around the corner. While it was a short summer it was still a active and busy one.

After talking with other people in my neighborhood and genealogy community about cemetery restoring, we put off cleaning during the summer in order to get more of our ducks in a row. I talked to multiple scout troops to find someone who would like to take the on as an Eagle Project, all met with no luck. I still have plans to talk to someone at the councle level and hopefully they will find someone before we finish it all.

After many emails to different title companys I finaly talked to the right person at KC Title. They were more then willing to help out with this community project. A week went by before I heard anything back, when I did it was brought to my attention that its was a taller order then they originally thought. I dont know what technology they use but it wasnt going to be as simple as putting in an address. They told me it would be a couple of weeks as they would have to go dig into the old deed books to find something that old. I kinda figured as much since its coming up on 150 yrs since the original deed. Shortly after that I got a messege that I should check with the Clay County Historical Society as they should know everything about that cemetery. I let them know that I have been talking with the society for a few years now and that was not going to get me what I am looking for. A couple of weeks when by and I recieved my final email and I got this "Sorry to tell you we couldn’t find anything on the ownership of the cemetery. It’s going to be more of a Genealogy search. We couldn’t find anything where the cemetery ever got deeded to anyone else so it looks like all the heirs of the original owners (from that deed dated in the 1800’s) would be the owners now. So as far as we can tell, it is still owned by the Roberts family."

So now I am back to square one, trying to find ownership and bounderies. I have found some Missouri Laws that state if the cemetery is inactive after 75 year that it could be considered an Abandoned Cemetery. There is some other legal hoops to jump through to make that all offical and I have letters out to the three Clay County Commissioners to hopefilly identify a way forward without costing an arm and a leg.

I also spend some time writing a Project Proposal which you can see here... Restoration Proposal

With all that going on over the summer while the cemetery was green and almost impenitrable we didnt let it discourage us. The Saturday after our November meeting 8 neighbors showed up to the cemetery. We recieved a free rental of a industrial sized wood chipper from Home Depot, that with our helpers and 3 chain saws we started cutting away the honeysickle and whatever else that was growing there that wasnt a tree. We worked on the SE coner of the lot for 5 hours. I think there was just as much dead fall if not more from the decades of neglect. After we finally called it quits we cleared about a 1/6th of the cemetery, but I think everone will agree it wasn't going to happen overnight.

My plan forward is to continue to clean the cemetery. I am going to try to start a tradition in the neighborhood that we work the cemetery the Saturday after our meetings ie cleaning until its cleared, then mowing and upkeep after that. I have found numbers to call the BSA and get headquarters involved with finding someone. The County Commissioners I am sure will be a waiting game but I will still keep my fingers crossed that something will come of it soon.

I appreicate all those who have helped with this project, I am sorry there is just to many of you to name. I will post again next big move forward. Check out below some pictues from the clean up we did.

Thanks

Preserving Family Memories... Making Stones Last Forever

Well if you have read my blog for any period of time you may have realized I have a passion for cemeteries. I don't know what it is, maybe it's knowing that they are right there, or that their descendants where standing at that very same spot when their loved one was laid to rest. Earlier this spring I got to attend a class about Preserving Cemeteries taught by Mandi Brown of Northwest Missouri. She introduced me to this chemical called D/2 Biological Solution I eventually bought one before making my rounds to the family cemeteries on Memorial Day. One stop in particular was to a cemetery called Sugar Creek in Rushville, Mo. there is the final resting place of many branches of the Moore family, and the oldest Robert Moore my 3rd Great Grandfather.

I am not going to go into great detail on his back story but after crossing the pond to America, he joined in the Civil War. He eventually married and moved west to Rushville where he settled down and lived a long life.

His tombstone is over 100 yrs old and has been covered with black mold/lichen for as long as I can remember. After getting my gallon bottle of D/2 I ventured out with my Great Aunts on the Friday before Memorial Day. I poured the solution into a pump bottle so that I could spray it on the stones. Without any scrubbing or touching of the stone, other then pulling dead grass of the base, I proceeded to spray the stone with the D/2 solution. I was a little sceptical at first, as I soaked the stone and the solution ran down the face of the stone, it started turning brown. I left it at that hoping it would do its magic and clean the stone without damaging it.

The summer passed, and I would say it was a pretty normal summer, hot and windy with the occasional rain shower. We have a family reunion at this cemetery the first Saturday of October every odd year. I visited the cemetery every month this summer but hadn't shared the results with anyone before the reunion. I was looking to see if any one noticed. Hopes went to high since I don't think anyone else is as crazy about the cemetery as I am. The reunion was great its fun to see how the family is growing. Like I had guessed no one really noticed the difference in the stone, potentially because they couldn't see it side by side, but when I pulled up pictures on my computer they where amazed.

I have been very pleased with the results of this D/2. I haven't been back to most of the cemeteries I visited Memorial day. I cant wait to see how the other stones turned out. I plan to purchase more this next spring and start cleaning more stones, and hopefully help preserve these memorials for future generations to come.

Connecting the Dots... Deerfield MA

Second in this series, Connecting the Dots, this time of Sutlief's in Deerfield Massachisetts, it was an interesting hunt. The history of Deerfield is very interesting to read about. This piece of land must have been something else, so many issues with the Indians, and yet they still came back worked thier land and persevered. Especally if you look at it from Hannah "Plympton" Sutlief's point of view, she lost her dad, brother, and husband in three different insidents around the Deerfield area, all told to have been burnt at the stake by Indians.

Making connections from past to present in Deerfield wasn't without its obsticals. The lots where not laid out uniformally, but by cow commons of the Dedham proprietors, however George Sheldon did his do dilligance in tracking down each deed, in his book A History of Deerfield, Massachisetts. It took a little time while switching back and forth from my google earth, the 1877 map, and his book, and going all the way around the homesteads of the old street, but I believe I figured them out. The lots where numbered from the NW side of the street, south, and then back up to the NE side again.

While not going into detail, although it is a nicely documented history, after Nathaniel Sutlcliffe died in the Falls Fight with Capt Turner, Hannah remarried and moved away. Eventually sometime down the road Nathaniel's son, Nathaniel Sutcliffe JR came back to Deerfield to collect what was left of his fathers estate before moving on himself.

Below is the the KMZ (Google Earth File) of my interpretation of Sutlief Land in Deerfield. For those who don't like or use google earth there is also a PDF. While you can save this PDF for your own tree I would prefer you to link it from my tree on ancestry.com so people can find the original source if they have questions.

Google Earth KMZ Link
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4_K-fH7HJzDZE5seUs1YTJaeGM/edit?usp=sharing

PDF Link
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4_K-fH7HJzDQnlmVTZLQ2F2VW8/edit?usp=sharing
To read the note in the PDF download it from google drive.

Ancestry.com Link
http://sharing.ancestry.com/3130310?h=7fe1bf

Hope you enjoyed, look out for more Connecting the Dots in the future.

Thanks

DNA in My Family Genealogy... The Grandparents

So here is a update from my previous post DNA in My Family Genealogy I love the fact that I get the opportunity to talk with other members of the NWMGS about discoveries, concerns, and questions about genealogy. While talking about DNA a member commented about thier results just confirmed many, many years of research, and so I thought I would share my maternal grandparents results as it completely changed mine. So the Story begins...

Few months back, without going into details, in fear of losing my only set of living grandparents, I was able to talk to them and get thier test submitted. Excited it only took three weeks to get the results back and then things really started to get interesting.

If you remember back with my Genetic Ethnicity results came back with 78% Centeral Europe, 18% Scandinavian, and 4% uncertian. This all seemed wierd to me as I have been able to document, with traditional research, a large amount of branches tracing back to the British Isles. Then the grandparents enter the picture. My Grandfather showed up with 70% Central European, 27% British Isles, and 3% uncertain. OK well I would stay thats pretty close to what I have researched without crunching the numbers. Grandma's was a shocker when compaired to mine. She had 74% British Isles, 16% Eastern European, 7% Central European, and 3% uncertain. Well especally with results like that, where did my British Isles go??? I can only guess, not being a genetisist, that my father must have some strong Scandinavian blood that dominated my British roots while still being born a red head.

Well let me mention a few things that I havn't liked about AncestryDNA or hope to see explained in furture updates. First off I have my grandparents linked to the same tree I am using, and while I can somewhat understand why I dont have some of the same genetic hintsto cousins my grandparents have. Why do they not show up as a hint when we are 99% confinent you're related, but can't identify how, within thier hint feature? Yes I know how we are related but seem it likes a hickup in thier system. The second is I am sure they are trying to keep it broken down to the lowest common dinominator but there is no advanced features to AncestryDNA like a Chromosome Browser. Especally in my grandfathers results there are quite a few hints that come from the same branch within a few generations of each other. This all being said they are supposed to come out with a new Ethnicity breakdown any day now. While there seems to be a few bugs in thier system, looking at all three results niether my mom or I where adopted.

It has been a great experience even though I don't understand it all. I have meet many more, lets call them genetic cousins, and many more I have yet to contact. Some are beating me to the chase and contacting me way before I have compiled my thoughts to contact them. Especally through my grandfathers side I am even starting to get connection hint, where the common ancestor is Revolutionary War time period, which is very exciting. And while the hints make it easy to make a connection. Having both maternal grandparents tested helps out too because if I can't see another user on thier results then that kinda narrows it down that you must come from my fathers side of the family.

I am going to sign off now, as just a few hours ago they released the new ethnicity results. It may take a few to get an updated blog post. I have already checked and the rest of the AncestryDNA community must be equally excited because the site is bogged down.

Connecting the Dots... Scituate MA

I really like collaborating my genealogy.  You never know what you will find, maybe someone has a photo that’s been passed down their side of a tree, or just a different interpretation of the facts.  Well with my Uncle Tim Sutlief recently going to Massachusetts, I dove into my files to check for any notes to answers I might have while he was in the area.   One of those questions was were did the Sutlief's live in Scituate, MA which by most researches is the first American home of the Sutlief's, Abraham Sutcliffe to be exact around 1623.

One resource I had that I hadn’t looked into very deep was "History of Scituate, Massachusetts from Its First Settlement to 1831" By Samuel Deane.  It talks about early selling of land owned by Abraham Sutcliffe and then with a map from the Scituate Historical Society call the "Map of Settlement of Men of Kent Scituate 1633," I was able to start connecting the dots.

The book references a John Stockbridge, " He had also a considerable tract of land, by purchase of Abraham Sutliffe, near Stockbridge's mill pond on the north and east."  It also talks about a Thomas Ingham, "He bought lands on the south side of Stockbridge's mill pond, of Abraham Sutliffe, 1640.   It also says that Abraham had a house north of Stockbridge's.

While I don’t know if anyone has ever made this connection or if it's just the digital age where things can be more accessible, but if you look at the bottom right of the map you will see mention of John Stockbridge.  I think with some certainty that this is the area that Abraham lived during that time.  

A little more history from that book also have a sketch of Abraham Sutliffe saying that "He was living in 1659 when "Abraham Sutliffe and Sarah his wife were ordered to make retraction for defaming John Sutton, in saying he was basely born." from Colony Records. 

If you see something different please contact me or leave a comment below.  I would love to discuss and collaborate more.

The Missions of Merl Stitt WWII

The Missions of Merl Stitt during WWII

This is the complied recreation of the missions my Great Grandfather flew during WWII as the Ball Turret Gunner on the B-17 Flying Fortress. Let me start out with this, this is my interpretation of research I have done over the last two plus years of his records, his squadron, and the targets he was assigned. While I have done my best it is by no way 100% accurate and things can always be changed or added as new discoveries surface.

To view the this project you have to have Google Earth, you can download it at www.earth.google.com To help you with Google Earth in case this is your first time, below is a short YouTube video to help you navigate around the globe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0_K0Wp1rSU I also have some instruction in the project that should pop up as soon as you open the Merl WWII.KMZ file.

I am sorry I couldn’t make it a little more user friendly but with the amount of information and the limits of my Google Earth knowledge this was the best way for you to experience it. I really hope you enjoy this insight of his time over Europe as much as I did creating it.

In Your Memory Great Grandfather,

Eric Stitt

PS I would really appreciate all feedback on what you thought and how it worked for you.  If there is any problems please contact me and I will try to walk you through it.

This is just an image from Google Earth.  File is at the end of the second paragraph.

Roberts Cemetery Restoration Project

Well, the Roberts Cemetery that I talked about in my first post "Cousin Bait" has come full circle.  My Aunt Becky who works for NNI (Northland Neighborhoods, Inc) was talking with members of my neighborhood association about community projects and the cemetery came up in the subject.  Since I had talked to her about it and that I had interest in family history, she passed along information and before long I was nominated to be the Cemetery Project Manager for the Roberts Cemetery Restoration, and now the adventure begins.

Its actually very exciting to do some new research, not family related.  I first started out calling around to the Clay County Historical Society, KC Parks and Rec, KC's Historic Preservation Director, and even the 311 number.  All came back with the same response, "Anything you do would be appreciated, but we have no money to help."  I did however get a name from the Historical Society, a Jay Thorn. 

I got a hold of Jay Thorn and we have spent a few afternoons up in the cemetery.  His first visit we tracked up the hill and without any visible indication of where to look, he pushed his ground probe into the soil and hit pay dirt!  With a few more hits he said, "Next time you're up here bring a shovel".  That didn't make any sense to me as I only live a few houses away, so I ran home and grabbed a shovel from the shed.  Upon my return he pointed out where to dig and way I went, about 12-15 inches later what to our surprise we found a horseshoe.  We continued to probe around without much luck, "even with the lucky horseshoe".  We did find a small handful of stones about a foot underground with flat surfaces but was a jigsaw of pieces that I haven't been able to put together yet. 

Jay has also educated me on a few historical features around the neighborhood, to include visiting Prather Hill, which is where Nancy Robert Prather lived.  She is one of the permanent residence of the cemetery.  After talking with some of the neighbors there on the Hill, I finally got up the courage to knock on the door of Mrs Ann Hodge, and she answered.  She is a living descendant of the Prather/Roberts and was very excited to talk.  It was late, so I didn't stay long but look forward to talking with her more and learning about the family history associated to the residence of the cemetery. 

The last few weeks have been wet and warm and the cemetery has now grown into its natural state of overgrown and almost impenetrable.  The project must move forward and what would really make the cemetery come alive is if we can find a buried tombstone.  So my next move was to contact Mandi Brown from Maryville, MO.  I had attended a class of hers "Reading Cemetery Stones" at the Genealogy KC Conference.  She told us about being able to locate unmarked grave by "Cemetery Witching".  I emailed her and on the Saturday before Memorial Day, she came to KC and taught me a new trick.  We spent hours walking around marking possible site for the burials, we even found a likely base to a memorial back in the woods.  After a wonderful lunch with her, we concluded that this will definitely take some time and after we clear out a lot of the undergrowth we will have to re investigate our findings and do more exploring. 

I also have spent some time at the Clay County Courthouse trying to do some research on who owns the cemetery and how the neighborhood could adopt it.  From what I gathered if the county owns it then they would most likely hand it over pretty freely, however that's where the problem lies.  After finally ending up in the Records of Deeds, which knew nothing about the cemetery, I was able to find the original deed of the cemetery.  There is still some research to be done on the title of the land but it looks like the original purchase was about a $100 for a group of locals back in 1865.  I am still trying to decipher the old handwriting to identify the buyers but it looks like twenty people were in the original donation of land, costing them about $5 each. 

I also had the pleasure of meeting up with Frank Hatton, a descendant of the Craighead family buried at the cemetery and also the first name on the deed.  He was able to share a wealth of knowledge as well as some old photos of the cemetery.  You can view those photos on the Find A Grave web page for Roberts Cemetery.  These were such a gold find, as they are the only photos of the stone while they were still standing. 

Presently I am working on finding a Boy Scout to get involved so that we can turn it into a Eagle Project.  I have been keeping notes all along so that I can write articles about the cemetery and in case I find someone it will be an easy hand off.  I was originally thinking of tackling it this summer but I think with the help of Doug Green the neighborhood Vice President we are going to try a little more campaigning to get everyone aware and interested. 

I will keep you all apprised of the restoration as we move along.  A heartfelt THANK YOU to all those who are helping and mentoring me through this project.  It has been a great experience so far and can't wait to pay it back to those who paved the way forward some many years ago.