Short ride to an old country church and a cemetary

[Guest]

i'm a member of another forum (www.venturerider.org) and they have a scavenger hunt thread. someone names a place and conditions, and you get a pic of you there. well, this is a nice little ride from my house, and i thought i'd share it with you folks as well.



this church is about 30 mins from my house, on the way into lansing on 99. i love this church, as the steeple is in the corner, and perpendicular to the rest of the church.



right next door to the church, a sinners car!

[seuadr]

just up the road from that church is a cemetary. there are no buildings anywhere near it, but it's mown and upkept by someone. i couldn't find a single headstone that was dated newer than 1910.


this one says 1868.



the rose was remarkably visible on this, for being erected in 1860.


this stone was not a military stone, but there was a vet star next to the grave and an american flag. i believe it says 1886.

around here, there are quite a few civil war stones, but one two in this cemetary. then again, it seemed to hold about 6 familes, and 2 were civil war vets:



i did a little digging. looks like 4 searles were involved in the civil war in the area:
Searles, Merrick 1st Artillery,
Battery C Hawley Ingham Co., Mi Searles, Frederick 7th Infantry,
Company B Hawley Ingham Co., Mi Searles, Hiram E.** 26th Infantry,
Company D Skinner [Private] Eaton Co., Mi Searles, William F. 1st Artillery,
Battery A Woodland Jackson, Mi
but H.H isn't listed.

i thought that was a little odd.

[Calvin Blackmore]

It interesting that someone is maintaining a flag on a grave that is so old.
Would that be family or some hostorical society doing this?

Maybe the family of the guy got it wrong when they ordered his gravestone?
maybe he served in a different military unit?
could he possibly have used a fasle identity?

There is a fabulous cemetery adjacent to my workplace
graves as new as the 1950s and as old as mid to late 1700s

sad that little bastards use it as a hangout to smoke weed but none of these poor souls have anyone to tend to them

but what are yah gonna do
at least they cut down the shrubberies so freaks dont have sex there anymore.

[seuadr]

Maybe the family of the guy got it wrong when they ordered his gravestone?
maybe he served in a different military unit?
could he possibly have used a fasle identity?

i don't know, i've got to admit, i'm really curious now. i found rosters for the 26th mich infantry, and tehre IS a H. searles in that unit, from arcada up near saginaw (over 150 miles away!)

there is no record of his gravesite anywhere, though.

that cemetary appears to be private, though, so it may be a private family plot?

[Calvin Blackmore]

i don't know, i've got to admit, i'm really curious now. i found rosters for the 26th mich infantry, and tehre IS a H. searles in that unit, from arcada up near saginaw (over 150 miles away!)

there is no record of his gravesite anywhere, though.

that cemetary appears to be private, though, so it may be a private family plot?

damned bland stone as well, it lacks most of the details you would need

where is the location of this graveyard exactly?
there is a roll of honor list for the 26th with two H searles on it who died apparently on the same day? This loks like a duplicate record wither at the time of compiling the original list or when it was entered into an electronic format.

Seaman, Rufus W. 13th Infantry, Company G Grand Rapids May 1, 1865 Seamens, Benjamin C. 4th Infantry, Company D Sumpter Jan 25, 1865 Searles, Henry** 26th Infantry, Company D Arcadia Apr 6, 1865 Searlis, Henry** 26th Infantry, Company D Arcadia Apr 6, 1865 Searlis, Hiram E.** 26th Infantry, Company D Arcadia Feb 12, 1864 Searls, Louis 17th Infantry, Company H Hillsdale Dec 20, 1864

I cant see any footnotes explaining the asterisks...

[seuadr]

damned bland stone as well, it lacks most of the details you would need

where is the location of this graveyard exactly?
there is a roll of honor list for the 26th with two H searles on it who died apparently on the same day? This loks like a duplicate record wither at the time of compiling the original list or when it was entered into an electronic format.

Seaman, Rufus W. 13th Infantry, Company G Grand Rapids May 1, 1865 Seamens, Benjamin C. 4th Infantry, Company D Sumpter Jan 25, 1865 Searles, Henry** 26th Infantry, Company D Arcadia Apr 6, 1865 Searlis, Henry** 26th Infantry, Company D Arcadia Apr 6, 1865 Searlis, Hiram E.** 26th Infantry, Company D Arcadia Feb 12, 1864 Searls, Louis 17th Infantry, Company H Hillsdale Dec 20, 1864

I cant see any footnotes explaining the asterisks...

the asterisks are a denote that the spelling may be one or the other. in this case searles, or searlis. i'm not sure if that is origional, or if they couldn't read it properly when they transcribed it.

those stones are usually postimus in the early to mid 1900's when the Grand army of the republic replaced or installed many stones for those who were too poor to have a stone, or those who the stone was lost or damaged.

i find no records other than the civil war list, which isn't that uncommon for the day, birth certificates were often stored in local church parish records or a local township hall, many of which have been lost or destroyed in the century and a half between. a marrage liscense would be on file for the state if he'd gotten married, assuming H.H is Henry H. many kids didn't have anything to leave behind when they died. according to records, he was 19 at the time. I suspect, given that Hiram is listed the same age they are related, and they both died the same day.

Apr 6, 1865 was the battle of sayer creek/fishers creek (depending on which side you were on) and was at the very vey tail end of the war. it's pretty sad. the last battle of the war was only 10 days later.. Imagine how things might've been different if they had lived..

[seuadr]

where is the location of this graveyard exactly?

it is on M-99 just south of vermonville highway.

42deg 37'25.26''North
84deg7=37'20.79'' West

i don't know how to make that into a link for google earth, and i don't know how to make the little degree symbol :P

it's between eaton rapids and lansing on M-99.
which shows the address of 3898 n michigan road, if you look at the picture for that address, you will see the graveyard.

[marvinsc]

A side note about Civil War History, most of my relatives on Mom's side fought for the Confederacy and when the war ended, many men simply walked away from their units and went home. One of Her relatives did just that and when He died in the early 1900's His Widow applied for the Widow's pension but was denied until some men he served with testified that He was not a deserter but didn't hang around waiting in Discharge papers.

[seuadr]

A side note about Civil War History, most of my relatives on Mom's side fought for the Confederacy and when the war ended, many men simply walked away from their units and went home. One of Her relatives did just that and when He died in the early 1900's His Widow applied for the Widow's pension but was denied until some men he served with testified that He was not a deserter but didn't hang around waiting in Discharge papers.

can you blame them?

thanks for sharing.

i'm a civil war re-enactor, so i get geeked about some of this stuff.

[67fire]

I'll take the "sinner's" 68 Firebird!

Eric

[marvinsc]

can you blame them?

thanks for sharing.

i'm a civil war re-enactor, so i get geeked about some of this stuff.

Since Mom is from here and Dad was from Ohio, the odds are very good I had kinfolks fighting against each other at some point. There is a ton of Civil War Historical sights near here so I'm a bit of a buff myself. Here are links to some local Civil War sites. I can ride to any of them in less than an hour.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbus-Belmont_State_Park

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Beauregard_Memorial_in_Water_Valley

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Donelson_National_Battlefield

[seuadr]

Since Mom is from here and Dad was from Ohio, the odds are very good I had kinfolks fighting against each other at some point. There is a ton of Civil War Historical sights near here so I'm a bit of a buff myself. Here are links to some local Civil War sites. I can ride to any of them in less than an hour.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbus-Belmont_State_Park

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Beauregard_Memorial_in_Water_Valley

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Do...al_Battlefield

someday, i'm gonna have to ride down there and get you to be my tour guide

[marvinsc]

Give me a little notice and You got it!