Visit to an Ancestor Hello Anamelia. It is I, your great great great granddaughter Patsy. We met finally in the late Fall but the snow came before we had a chance to really chat. As promised, here I am now the snow is gone. This is my pail of water and bristle brush to spruce up your stone. Heavens, a lot of grime gathered there this long Winter, didn't it? Perhaps as we talk I can go about the nearby stones and give them a bit of a cleaning as well. My, my, look at the debris laying about. This garbage bag was a good idea after all. Now, as I started to say, it's been quite a journey to find you. And to think, all this time you were within walking distance. You see, my father died and amongst his papers was a chart with your name and Alexander and all your children. Curiosity being my weakness made me start looking for you. Dad had your last name wrong which led me down a dead end road. A visit to the local Registry Office put me on the right track for they had copies of deeds, wills and land grant information. After much eyestrain to me, a deed appeared that you co-signed with Alexander. Let me tell you, records were kept back then, but names were treated with impunity. For instance you signed the deed Anna A. Fraser. You signed your marriage certificate Anamelia. Your gravestone says Anemela and the baptism records of your 11 children not only give great variety to your first name, but also your maiden one alternating between Chipman and Shipman. After much detective work I was able to determine that Shipman was correct when I found the microfilm in the Archives with a copy of the original marriage record. Now, that marriage was a real brain teaser. You were of what faith I do not know. But, you married a Presbyterian in an Anglican ceremony then baptized all your children in the Roman Catholic church. Now really, Anamelia, you could have made the paper trail a bit easier for us descendants to follow. Speaking of paper, I am sorry to tell you that your homestead burnt with all your personal records some years ago. Then to make matters worse it turns out the churches all had fires as well and on top of that, the 1851 census information for this area disappeared long long ago. How I ever found you is a great mystery. The generation before me said you and Alexander were in Old St. Luke's cemetery. He is there but there was no sign of you so we thought your stone had been destroyed as so many others have. But, all along you were hiding here across the road in the Catholic cemetery. If not for the alertness of a friend doing research you would still be lost to us. Oh, Anamelia, I have so many questions and so few answers. Where did you meet Alexander? How did he get to Canada and then here? Where were you born? The list goes on. My search continues to fill in your background, the pieces fall together so slowly. The Archives are a great resource with family documents, microfilms of church records, census and thousands of other bits of historical value. There is an organization called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and they have so generously opened their family history records to the world. And indeed it is that for today we have a new means of communication called the internet. Through it I have found many of your descendants and met so many cousins. And we are all searching for you and Alexander and your ancestors. There now, doesn't your stone look much nicer? I love the feel of marble. This was made far from here by a company with the same name as your son-in-law, my gg grandfather. Now he must have come from down there but time for him later and another long trek. Did you know that yours is the only plot here with strawberry plants growing on and around it? How appropriate, considering your married name being Fraser. Well Anamelia it is time to leave. Thank you for being here so long ago. Thank you for your children's children. Thank you for me. Archives: Part One: Introduction to the Wonderful World of Cemetery Research Part Two: Recording Gravestone Information Part Three: The Face of a Gravestone Part Four: Cleaning Gravestones Part Five: Restore or Beautify? Part Six: Are Your Ancestors Buried Here? Part Seven: Visit to an Ancestor Comments or Suggestions? Contact Patsy by E-Mail Back to Musings from the Cemetery Patsy's Mailbag