So, during the last part of November, my mother and I went back to Delaware in search of our ancestors. We went with high-hopes that we'd find tons of information, which would then make the trip worth-while. We also went there to meet a family member that I had found while doing research on the internet. His name is George and he's just about to turn 86yrs old. George is my Grandpa's 3rd cousin, though neither of them knew of each other because there was a family feud, which separated the family. It took many phonecalls and tons of paper work to convince him that we really are related. When we first got to Delaware, he was still sceptical but when we were leaving....He was a believer!!
Overall the trip was very successful, though we did have some highs & some lows, which I will explain with the photos.
This is the "Old Swedes Church", which is the oldest, still functioning church in the USA. It was build in 1699. My great great (x whatever) grandfather was the first pastor for this church. His name was Ericus Bjork. His portrait still hangs in the church. MANY, MANY relatives of mine are buried in it's graveyard. If rating this stop on a level of 1-10 for "family history info", I'd give it a 10++. I found enough to keep me busy for a really long time :)
This is the "Susquehanna Lockhouse Muesum" located in Havre de Grace, Maryland. This is the house that my grandfather was born and grew up in. It was wonderful experience to be within its walls and to stand within the room that my grandfather was born. What a blessing in my life! Since I was raised without a father, my grandfather was like my daddy. He means so much to me and I can't wait to see him again. And I am so honored to be doing his line of family history. The older picture is of "Nanny" my grandpa's grandmother. She's standing on the porch of the lockhouse, in about 1930 or so. Oh, and that's my grandpa's dog Nelly.
Here's mom and I with George. He's a little guy, only about 5' 1" or so. He was a really nice and lovable guy but a little rough around the edges. But I am eternally grateful for all of the information he gave us, including one of his family Bibles. I'm also thankful for his willingness to take us to several cemeteries that we may have never found, if on our own. Thank you George!
This is when the "lows" of my story come in. What do you think I'm taking a picture of in this photo? Would you ever guess a cemetery?!? Well, that's what it is. My forefathers came to Delaware in the mid 1700's and this is where most of the early members of the family are buried. Talk about heartbreaking!! I had tears in my eyes even before going in.
This is what we found when we finally got into the cemetery, which was covered with overgrowth and huge sticker bushes!! Broken and vandalized headstones & monuments. Most smashed to where they were completely useless. In the photo above, you can see remains from 5 different headstones. Once shattered, they were thrown around. It was so overwhelming that both my mother and I were shocked and in tears. Who does that to a graveyard!?! Now if ruining the headstones wasn't bad enough, there were several graves that had been dug up and what made it worse, was those who were dug up were our family members.
Here's a headstone for Sarah McCrone. We found the other part of it nearby so we were able to get the year of death but this one was in surprisingly good shape compared to many others.
Here's my mom beside a "McCrone Monument" that had been knocked over and vandalized. Someone poured tar all over it. We were able to get the information off of a couple of it's sides but it was too heavy to roll or move to get the information on the bottom, which was a major disappointment. We hope to go back again soon and find a way to replace it to its rightful spot. It's hard to tell in this photo, but the headstone to the left and slightly behind my mom, is one of the many graves that were dug up. The hole is somewhat filled with leaves and branches, so it makes it hard to see but believe me, it's been dug up.
But even though this cemetery really brought us down, we were still able to get some useful information that we didn't have before, which made it a good and worth-while stop. Now my mom and I are trying to figure out what we can do to help get the State or whoever to care for this graveyard. If I lived closer, I'd do it in a heartbeat.....poison ivy, or not!
