Memorial Day Reflections

I spent a wonderful, but hot, Memorial Day yesterday placing flowers at my wife's grandparents graves at Center Grove Cemetery in Lincolnville. This cemetery is a well-kept, active cemetery, and I always enjoy wandering around looking at tombstones of my wife's family.

Once again, we ran into Mr. Bob Kendall, an elderly man who shared fascinating stories about the history of Lincolnville and Wabash County in general. He is a professor at IUPUFW, and told us that he is in the process of writing a book. Last year, after meeting him, I tried to locate more information about him and could not find him, joking I told my wife I thought he might have been an angel. But this year, there he was again, this time with his wife.

One thing I noticed this year at the cemetery was that no one had placed the US flag on the veteran's tombstones. How sad. Maybe there is no one to do so?

Today in my database : Barbara Petry (b. May 28, 1802)

Today's featured relative in my database is my paternal 3rd great-grandmother, Barbara Petry.

Barbara was born May 28, 1802 in York Co., PA, the daughter of George and Maria Catharina (Kaltreider) Petry. Barbara married in 1821 in Starke Co., OH to Johannes Wehrly (aka John S. Wehrly), son of Heinrich & Christina (Saubel) Wehrly. Johannes was born June 4, 1802 in York Co., PA, and died November 10, 1876 in Salamonia, Jay Co., IN. Barabara (Petry) Wehrly died August 27, 1880 in Salamonia, Jay Co., IN.

I descend from their youngest child, William P. Wehrly, born November 2, 1845 in Preble Co., OH.

Parkview Cemetery, Alexandria, Indiana

My co-workers think I'm bizarre, but I enjoy spending my lunchtime walking and photographing local cemeteries, and then posting the results at FindAGrave.com.

Yesterday, I spent time at Parkview Cemetery in Alexandria, Indiana, where several members of my family are buried. As I walk row by row, I'm photographing each tombstone I find. It's a slow process, but also a rewarding one, as I have discovered the final resting place for several relatives.

The results of my 'work' (or fun, as I would call it), can be found here. I would encourage everyone to photograph and preserve the tombstone records of our cemeteries before they are all gone.