Tombstone Tuesday – Have you ever taken a memento from an ancestor’s grave?
Barbara Lowe Lowery
This all goes back to my g-g-grandfather George W. Lowery. You know, the Civil War veteran, and subject of every other post on this blog? Well his wife, my g-g-grandmother was Barbara Lowe Lowery. (I always thought it was pretty cool she only added two letters to her maiden name when she got married! Saved on learning to write a whole new last name!)
Anyway when I started researching this branch of the family and ventured to the cemetery to see their headstone, there was only one name on it. Barbara’s. She died first, 15 months before her husband and apparently the kids never bothered to add their dad’s name to the headstone. George was buried next to her, we knew that for sure from the cemetery and other records.
So my genealogy sister/buddy and I launched on a mission to get a headstone for our Civil War veteran ancestor. (You can get a free headstone from the government if your veteran doesn’t have one. More on that in another post.) We succeeded in getting the headstone and we had it placed next to Barbara’s.
Now when they dug the footer we were there. Why wouldn’t you go when they’re digging a footer at cemetery? As the backhoe dug right next to Barbara’s headstone we were surprised to see there were bricks under it. We never thought about how a headstone was set over 109 years ago. The few bricks that were taken out to pour George’s footer were tossed aside in a garbage pile.
Let me tell you, it only took a minute for my sister/genealogy buddy and myself to grab a brick. Not exactly the best family heirloom but it’s all we have physically to connect to our g-g-grandmother. A brick from under her headstone!
Are you a grave robber too? Or do you have a wild ancestor memento? Let me know!
This is fabulous! What a great memory and conversation piece. Plus, it makes you sound kind of edgy… you grave robber you! Seriously though, it sounds like a wonderful thing to have. Very nontraditional, but something concrete that connects the generations. What a great find. Thanks for sharing.
Guess what…George Washington Lowery was also my Great Great Grandfather…. born in Franklin County PA. Moving to Ohio after the Civil War to the outskirts of Sandusky. He was in fact a Corpral with the 81st PA Infantry. I have a copy of his seperation papers from the Union Army. Certainly willing to share with you!
He is the father of my grandfather Calvin Tyler Lowe, Sylavnia Ohio and his children Lenoard Calvin, Grant…Wanda…and Theodore..
I have found records back to his parents in Virginia around 1803 as Susan was the mother of George. George’s wife was named Barbara I do believe.
I would love to discuss and share any information that you have as I am only an hour away from the Adams County Courthouse, loaded with records, located in Franklin County here in PA.
Please reply and thanks in advance!
Oh! That is wonderful! I would take something like that if I could in a heartbeat! I think it’s great that you had a headstone placed for George too. I would like to do that for a couple of my ancestors that have no stone. They are ;not vets so the cost is a real issue! Thanks for sharing this story Cindy.
Cheri ~ Thanks for stopping by and commenting! I do appreciate it. I was a little worried about this post. I figured everyone would now know I was a weird-o! LOL But I’m finding I’m in with the right group! Thanks!