Grove Hill Cemetery

Weather has finally moderated with temps in the 50's. Went to Grove Hill Cemetery out in Shelbyville.

Bitter Cold

Now I have the bitter cold weather to deal with. The ground has been snow covered since last week and the temp this morning was 5! Supposed to moderate by Friday so I hope to get out then and take some pics.

Fairview

Finally got out to take pictures of graves again. Weather was very pleasant and I was able to help out a couple of people with their families.

Still No Rain

We still have had no rain here in Kentucky. The heat wave has finally broken and we have cooler temps in the 80's. Hope to get out this month to photograph some sites.

Praying For Rain and Cooler Temps

Today topped out at 101 degrees. And still no rain. No relief in sight. It's been about a month since we've had any measurable rain. Many things are dying. Hoping next month will bring cooler temps so I can get out and photograph graves for people again. It has been a brutal summer.

Break In The Heat Wave

Today was the first time in about two months that the temps here in Kentucky haven't been oppressive. It was in the mid 80's and no humidity. Took the opportunity to go down to the Frazier Museum and the Bat Museum and enjoy the day.

Summer Time In Kentucky

We are stuck in the middle of an enormous heat wave. It's 1:00 pm and it's 98 degrees. It is way too hot to go to any graves to take pictures. I hope this thing breaks soon!

Floydsburg Cemetery - Oldham Co. KY

Another trip to Floydsburg today to take pictures for a Find-A-Grave request. It was in an old family section of the cemetery and the stones , over 200 years old, were so weathered they were not readable. I tried to find Marquis Speer. Although I couldn't find him , I did find some other family members. So at least my trip was worthwhile.

Fairview Cemetery-Shelby Co.

Today I visited Fairview cemetery to take photographs of two graves for Find A Grave. I had requests to take one of Cathrine H. Shelburne and john S. Shelburne. I found them quite easily as it was a small cemetery. It was a very quiet and peaceful resting place for these folks.

St. Adalbert's Cemetery

I found the graves of my Great Grandparents, Anna and Martin Groja. It was very disappointing to find that they did not have headstones. I'm going to look into getting them headstones so their graves can be properly marked. It's a beautiful cemetery and the graves are in a very peaceful location.

St. Joseph Cemetery - Chicago

Today I visited St. Joseph cemetery. It's located at Belmont & Cumberland Avenues, River Grove, IL. A very peaceful setting. Saint Joseph Catholic Cemetery was opened by the German Angel Guardian Society as a replacement for Saint Boniface Cemetery. It is one of the few major cemeteries where the supply of graves is virtually exhausted. As a land conservation measure, it became the site of continuous development of Garden Crypts. Over 2,600 crypts and 700 niches were added to the Crucifixion Garden Crypt in 1996. Saint Joseph Cemetery also supervises Calvary Cemetery in Evanston and Saint Boniface Cemetery in Chicago. I visited the office and found them very helpful in finding the graves of my Grandfather and Grandmother as well as two Uncles and an Aunt.

Chicago Cemeteries

This week I started on my quest to visit the Chicago cemeteries where my ancestors were buried. The first was Forrest Home Cemetery, formerly Waldheim. It is a beautiful final resting place. Some of the headstones were of an unbelievable design. I located my Grandfather and Grandmother without much trouble. They have a very nice quiet area on the northeast side.

Callaway Cemetery

Today was a dark, dreary and raining day, but I needed to photograph some graves at Callaway Cemetery for a request on Find A Grave. The map location showed it about 5 miles east toward Eminence. I headed out route 22 and followed the gps as directed. The voice told me to turn left at Highland Farms road. I hesitated at first as it looked like a road up to someone's house. There were no private drive signs so I proceeded. I drove past two houses and a barn till I came to an old rock surrounding up in a field that appeared it could be a graveyard. I started to go back and go up to the last house I passed, but since it was raining I decided not to. I assumed that someone would see me going up toward the graveyard and realize why I was there. I approached the rock surrounding and sure enough here were graves there. I was looking for Col John Callaway. I found his marker easily. It was very old, broken and hard to read as he died in1825 and it was flat on the ground. The inside of the yard was not well cared for and there were high weeds all around. There were at least 8 other graves there. I took pictures of the of the 5 I could read. the others were so old the writing was worn away and It was impossible to tell who was there.

By far the most interesting stone was one that looked fairly recent. It was Richard Callaway born in 1717, he was the commander of the siege of Boonesboro. He was killed by Indians near Boonesboro, KY in March 1870. I included a picture here.

Floydsburg Cemetery - Oldham Co. KY

Today I went to Floydsburg cemetery to fulfill the wishes of several people on Find A Grave who needed a photograph of a grave. It was a beautiful afternoon, butquite humid because of a pending storm.

The first one was of the Armes family, George and Katie. The caretakers have the grounds in very good shape and everything is nicely trimmed.

The next family was Walker. I was supposed to photograph Bertha, but I couldn't find her anywhere. The office searched the records and could only locate the grave of husband Aurther.

I'm glad I was able to help someone today and I'm really looking forward to helping more in the future.

My next project is to photograph my own ancestors in the Chicago cemeteries.

My First Cemetery Photo Session

Today I'll be visiting my first cemetery for taking grave photos. I'll be taking pictures for several people who have posted a request on Find A Grave.

Planning The Trip

This is my first attempt to write a blog. I'm preparing to take a trip to Chicago to visit the cemeteries where my ancestors are buried. I'll be going to German Waldheim, St. Adalbert's, St. Joseph and St. Boniface. I'll put the details in this blog as I gather the information from the past.